A Flower for the Lady
by YukiSkye
Summary: Even the most self-assured girl needs to be told they're beautiful every once in a while. Even Shinko. When people keep avoiding her for seemingly no reason, maybe one Kuroba Kaito could tell her why. Genderbent!Shinichi,Ran. KaiShin, one-sided ShinRan
1. The Apple at the Top

**For those who have me on author alert: **Okay so I guess I should really, _really_ work on Your Guardian Angel. I'm feeling better now for the last few months but now the problem is I've got no inspiration and a sort of writer's block although I did finish about roughly halfway.

****For all **readers: **Hello! This is a genderbent Ran and Shinichi fic based on those tree thingies I sometimes see in people's profiles. You can look it up on google by typing in "Girls are like apples." The main idea is that girls are like apples. The good girls are at the top of the tree while the bad ones are at the bottom. The boys pick the rotten ones on the ground or lower branches because they are easy while the good girls at the top are wondering what is wrong with them when they're really wonderful but it just takes a guy of real courage to climb up the tree despite the fear of falling and getting hurt to get the girl at the top. I could still make Shinichi a guy but I wanted to stay true to this so I twisted it a bit.

**Pairings:** KaiShin, one-sided ShinRen, hinted HakuAoko

* * *

><p>Shinko was never one to care much for the frivolous activities other girls her age does. She never bothered to smother her face in any make-up, hardly wore any dresses or skirts if she could help it, and never participated in the trivial gossip they loved so much. In her eyes, they were pointless. For all her intelligence, she never understood why people should make themselves look beautiful for total strangers. If you were beautiful on the inside, it wouldn't matter what your outward appearance looked like and if people judged others based on that, they wouldn't make very good friends at all. Or at least that's what she believed.<p>

She never bothered much with what people thought about her and focused on what actually mattered. Lately, however, she noticed how people didn't seem to want to be near her and it wasn't just her peers as school. People on the streets and even some members of the taskforce steered clear. They avoided her and she was certain some were whispering about her behind her back.

She shrugged it off at first. It wasn't really anything new. It'll be fine after a week or so.

But the problem persisted.

Now, for all her beliefs and brilliant logical reasoning, she was still an uncertain teenage girl who had yet to truly form the firm ground of resolution of adulthood and it was with this festering insecurity she went through her school days.

She didn't want to talk to Ren about it not because of pride, although that did play a small part, but because she wanted him to keep seeing her as a strong, independent young woman who wouldn't let little, pointless things such as this get to her. Still, she found herself asking him in a discreet way anyway.

"Ren," Shinko addressed her childhood best friend one day, "Do you think anyone else likes crime solving as much as I do?"

Which was her way of asking, "Am I weird?"

Ren seemed to pick up on that and smiled at her gently. "Shinko, people may not share the same love for justice as you do but they can see how much it means to you and they respect that."

Which was his way of saying, "You're not weird. It's just people might feel intimidated by you."

Shinko was grateful he knew so much about her that she didn't need to directly voice her insecurities. It mollified her a bit but Ren might just be saying that to reassure her although she didn't believe he would outright lie just to do so. She still wondered why everyone chose to avoid her now. Was it something about her? The way she acted? The way she talked? What she said? All of the things she never let bother her suddenly crashed down on her head and for the first time in her life, she didn't know what to do.

Ignoring it didn't actually help because it still persisted in her mind. Trying to reason out of it was equally as fruitless because although her mind knew it didn't matter her feelings ignored any logic she drew out. Confronting it was out of the question because she couldn't exactly demand people to tell her what's wrong. Even if they did tell her, it'd probably be a lie. She absolutely refused to change herself for the sake of being liked. That was one boundary she will never stoop so low to cross. Instead, she started listing things that she found appealing about herself. It seemed a bit too narcissistic for her tastes but writing them down was the best thing she could think of to appease her unease.

She was intelligent, athletic, calm, cool-headed, straightforward, knew how to take care of herself, passionate about the things she cared about… That was where she drew a blank. She couldn't think of anything else about herself she found appealing. Thus, she gave up the list but repeated some of these qualities in her head any time the beginnings of insecurity started to rise. It worked for a while but she rapidly found that in the face of the continued avoidance, her self-assurance simply didn't match up to it and eventually running counter to her good traits, she unintentionally started to become more conscious of her bad traits. Her arrogance, her rashness, her social ineptitude outside of work, her sarcastic humor…

Ren seemed to sense her distress and did his best to reassure her as well as he could but for all of his support, Shinko knew he couldn't stop people from avoiding her for one reason or another. Still, she appreciated it and let his words ease her mind if only temporarily.

Sighing, she sat down at her desk and proceeded to flip open a book to read while she waited for the teacher, ignoring everyone around her until two slips of paper obscured her page.

Blinking at the colorful tickets, she looked up questioningly at a grinning Ren.

"They're having a big carnival and it's only a thirty minute train ride away. Want to come?" he invited, waving the tickets tantalizingly across her vision.

Shinko stared at them and shook her head. "I can't Ren. I have to—"

"Ah, ah! C'mon Shinko. You're always busy! Please? Just this once?" Ren begged and even threw in the pouty look he knew Shinko thought was adorable.

Shinko sighed in annoyance although they lacked actual irritation and tried to hide the growing smile. "Fine but I still have work you know."

"You're such a workaholic," Ren complained, rolling his eyes. "Such a detective geek."

This time Shinko didn't bother to hide her smile and even laughed a little. "Maybe I'm proud to be a detective geek," she shot back playfully.

Ren's grin grew wider. "So I'll meet up with you at your house at three on Saturday okay? Make sure you're ready!" he huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, yeah I got you," she said, waving him away as the teacher entered the room.

With one last playful glare, Ren returned to his seat.

o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o-0-O-o

Shinko glanced around in wonder at the carnival. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Its theme centered around mystery and all around her were people wearing costumes and masks. It made her feel a bit out of place but she supposed it was fine since there were still a fair amount of people wearing regular clothes. Entertainment included mazes, winning prizes from figuring out puzzles or tricks, trivia, and even a performing magician. There was even Sherlock Holmes merchandise on sale along with many other items related to mystery. Shinko was completely submerged in her element.

"You like it?" Ren asked.

"I love it!" Shinko exclaimed, beaming as she took in her surroundings.

"Haha I thought you would and knowing how you work so hard you even forget to eat sometimes," his voice tinged in annoyance at the last part, "I thought you could use a break."

"I suppose," Shinko conceded although she saw nothing wrong with staying up late to catch criminals.

"Come on let's walk around a bit." He paused and hesitantly, shyly, took her hand and started to lead her through the crowds, determinedly looking ahead.

Shinko gazed questioningly at him but otherwise kept quiet and allowed herself to be guided.

They weaved through the vast carnival grounds, enjoying the many assortments of games with Shinko winning more prizes than they could carry and it was with no small amount of sheepishness that she decided to play the games just for enjoyment. Ultimately, however, she gave away most of her prizes to small children for attempting the challenges after spotting many disappointed little faces.

"Aw you're so good with children," Ren teased as they made their way to the main event, a grand magic show.

Shinko flushed. "Shut up. I was just trying to cheer them up is all."

"Of course," her childhood friend agreed laughingly, dodging her half-hearted swat. He backed away a bit but found himself suddenly put in a headlock.

"Yo Ren! On a date with your wife?" Soutarou greeted gruffly.

Ren sputtered and flushed a deeply as he struggled out of the hold his friend had on him. "She's not my wife!" he denied, blush turning even darker as he spoke.

Soutarou glanced towards Shinko watching them amusedly before turning back to Ren. "I need to talk to you for a sec." He swiveled his attention again towards his other friend. "You mind if I borrow him? Thanks." Without waiting for a reply, he dragged a protesting Ren away where they vanished amongst the crowd.

Shinko stared after them for a few more moments before finding herself a place to sit by a stand of balloons.

She watched the people walking by her as she waited, entertaining herself by using her acute skills to try to guess each person's occupation, emotion, or what they could be thinking of. But eventually she drifted further and further away from the bustling scene of reality in front of her to the quiet corners of her mind.

She wondered if she'll ever be able to get over this self-esteem issue that plagued her because it felt never-ending. It annoyed her that she was still feeling so down over something like this when she's handled worst before.

Ren was very nice about it though and it comforted her that he was there. The carnival really was a great idea to distract her and she really had to give him credit for succeeding most of the time he dragged her out of the case files she buried her nose in. Speaking of case files, as a former pickpocket, it's possible that Satowari could have stolen the pin but considering the fact that Matsuno entered the house at approximately the same time…

"Mind if I sit here?"

The sudden voice popped her thought bubble and Shinko quickly turned towards the speaker to be met with a face covered by half a white mask but the sheepish violet eyes and friendly smile was clearly visible.

"I'm sorry did I startle you?"

"No, it's fine," Shinko quickly amended, scooting over to allow the other room to sit.

"Thanks. You just looked pretty deep in thought is all. What could possibly be troubling a pretty young lady such as you?"

"Not trouble per say… Just…" Shinko blew at her bangs in a mixture of slight resignation and irritation but didn't finish her sentence.

Sensing she didn't want to elaborate, the boy changed subjects. "So I saw you giving out some of your prizes to kids earlier. That's really nice of you."

Shinko blushed faintly at the compliment, ducking her head slightly to make it less noticeable. "It was nothing. Effort is just as good as finding the solution."

"You mean the solution isn't everything?"

Shinko's head jerked back up to meet his eyes. "Of course the solution's important! But without tenacity, you'll never be able to get to the end and what good would the solution be if you don't pursue it yourself? They're both equally crucial when solving mysteries. Without one or the other, it just falls apart!" she exclaimed vehemently.

The boy grinned broadly, looking quite taken to the burst of energy embedded in the short speech. "Wow I'm impressed. You must really love mystery a lot don't you? I can feel it."

Shinko smiled placidly, having calmed down from her excitement. "I do. I love mystery but I love solving crimes even more. If only others see it that way too. Maybe…" she muttered before realizing herself, jerking slightly at the unintentional confession. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean that um…" she struggled to explain herself but the words tumbled over each other in her head like clothes in a washer before Shinko resigned herself to the fact she had just voiced her insecurity out loud to a stranger.

The other gave her a confused look. "Why wouldn't others see you like this?"

"Well," she started to explain, tucking a strand of stray hair from her face. "I guess other people think I'm weird. I mean, I don't act like other girls and my interest in mystery might seem obsessive to them. You remember when I said that I'm not used to people approaching me? That's because they avoid me."

"Avoid?" The boy looked surprised then contemplative before a small knowing smile slowly made its way onto his face but before Shinko could question it, he spoke again. "There's a difference between obsession and passion, dear lady." He stood up. "I'll show you."

"Show… me?" Shinko echoed confusedly.

"Come to the performance. You'll see." With a wink, the other strode away just as Ren came running up to her, looking out of breath and just a bit harried but mostly apologetic.

"I'm so sorry Shinko! I didn't mean to leave you alone for so long but Soutarou just wouldn't leave me alone." A slight frown formed on his lips. "Who was that boy? Was he bothering you?" he asked worriedly.

Shinko stood and shook her head. "No, it was just someone who needed to rest a bit. Let's go to the performance. It's about to start."

Ren nodded, frown quickly quirking back up into a smile, and they moved towards the main attraction although Shinko could still make out some tension. She wondered what Soutarou and he could have been discussing to cause such a strained smile but didn't pry.

Halfway to the main attraction, something started to tug at her mind that refused to be shaken off. It was not until they were standing amidst the crowd that she realized with a start what it was.

She had not only spoken her doubts to a stranger but explained it too, something she had only briefly touched upon with Ren, her best friend since childhood. It was just so easy to talk to him and there had been no awkwardness whatsoever.

Why was that?

Maybe it was the Kaito's geniality or maybe it was easier to let things out to strangers. Whatever it was, it felt pleasant and maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they did somehow meet again.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Give a warm welcome to the ever elusive phantom magician who was gracious enough to attend this evening's main event, KID!"

An eruption of white doves burst forth out of midair immediately following the announcement. A thunder of applause and cheers accompanied the entrance of the well-known magician.

When the flock cleared, a teenager garbed in a pure white suit and cape was bowed elegantly at his audience, a white top hat clutched in one gloved hand. Light gleamed off a monocle as he straightened, popping his hat back onto his head as he did so. A beaming smile roused his viewers into another round of enthusiastic applause even as he began to speak.

"Thank you my kind audience," he greeted, his voice ringing clear over the ruckus. "Without further ado, let us begin the show!"

With that, he tossed one ball into the air, then two, then three, then four, each transforming into different items as they bounced up from the floor. One morphed into a watering can before their very eyes, one started glowing brightly, and another transformed into a pot with a small poof. The fourth remained unchanged and instead, bounced into the pot where the watering can tipped in midair, pouring water into the pot below it as both fell before disappearing with a pop. The pot landed firmly back onto the ground although the glowing sphere remained floating above and to the side.

KID slowly started to raise his arm and as he did so, a plant poked out the pot and steadily grew larger and larger, branching more and more the higher KID raised his hand. It had grown over five meters before KID halted its growth with a push of his palm.

There was a moment of pause.

With a snap of his fingers, he threw his arms back dramatically as the tree surged outward with an explosion of glitter into multicolored leaves, lights, and random assortment of items. Doves shot out from within its depths and a multitude of balloons of different shapes and sizes drifted into the sky.

Once they reached a distance, the balloons burst, showering the crowd in snow and right before their very eyes, the tree transformed. Its leaves and ornaments fell onto the ground where they melted into a white mist that gathered at its base. Silver condensed onto its twisting and curving branches while crystalline icicles slowly formed and grew. White and winter blue stars twinkled into existence, their gentle glows seeming to make the tree shiver with life.

Shinko watched in awe at the magnificent display. It was absolutely gorgeous. It stole her breath away; it entranced her logical mind completely. It was magic.

_So this_, Shinko thought breathlessly, _is passion_.

It wasn't simply an interest or an obsession. It was art achieved only by those willing to dedicate themselves heart, mind, and soul onto a single thing they loved with every fiber of their being.

Sudden smoke enveloped her vision and she let out a yelp as Ren gave a startled shout. A brief feeling of weightlessness overtook her before it stopped almost just as quickly as it had occurred. When her sight cleared, she found herself looking down upon the heads of the audience and the hundreds of pairs of eyes directed at her.

She blushed a bright red at all the attention and was about to move to get off what she now realized was the very tree she was admiring just seconds beforehand when she heard someone clearing their throat softly.

She turned her attention to her bottom right to find the white-clad magician kneeling on one knee on one of the bigger branches of the tree, holding out a hand for her.

"Shall we milady?"

Feeling a bit dizzy from embarrassment, she took the hand and suddenly the whole tree moved as the branch lowered until both were standing on the ground again.

Shinko was all too eager to get off the stage and out of the scrutiny of so many people. Crime scenes were one thing but being on stage was another. However, before she could do so, KID held something out towards her.

"A flower for the lovely lady," he said, winking as he held out a snow-white rose towards her.

Shinko didn't think her head could feel any hotter than it already was but nevertheless, she took the rose, gave a quick thanks, and hurried off the stage where she met up with Ren again, much to her relief.

"You alright?"

Shinko could hear some concern in Ren's voice but she avoided looking at him to hide how red her face was. Not trusting her voice with even one word, she simply nodded and returned her attention to the rest of the show, wondering why Ren's gaze always seemed to fall on her.

o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o

The next day felt oddly uneventful which was peculiar because Sundays were usually booked to the brim with cases she needed to solve before school began again to take up almost a third of her time. But she had finished her cases the night before in a strangely happy mood and today, Ren was spending time with his mom which left Shinko with nothing to do.

In these sorts of situations, she would normally hunker down on the armchair in the library and read the rest of the day away but today, she felt restless.

Deciding to take a quick walk to a nearby café and grab some coffee before heading back home to read, she made her way out the door and into the streets where she proceeded to head into the shopping district. When her favorite café was in sight, she quickly made a beeline inside and came back out with her favorite delicious, rich coffee the likes of which, in her opinion, no other coffee could match.

She had just walked out the door and was halfway around the corner when someone roughly collided with her. She let out a surprised cry as she dropped the coffee which spilled onto the floor, scalding her hand and wrist and wetting her pant legs and shoes.

The girl who had crashed into her gasped and quickly withdrew a handkerchief from her purse.

"I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going!" the girl blundered apologetically as Shinko took the proffered handkerchief.

"It's okay. I'm sure you didn't mean to," Shinko assured as she wiped the coffee off her hands but the girl shook her head.

"I'll buy you another coffee. It's the least I can do after rudely bumping into you like that."

"Um…"

But she was already walking away, heading towards the café Shinko had just left.

Shrugging, she followed and stood beside the girl as they waited in line.

"I really am sorry about that um… What's your name? I'm Nakamouri Aoko," the girl now known as Aoko introduced.

"I'm Kudo Shinko. It really is no problem. No harm was done." She paused for a bit and wracked her memory to find where she heard the name from when it clicked. "Ah. Nakamouri. As in the inspector, Nakamouri who uncovered the Sakamoto fraud?"

Aoko beamed proudly. "Yep! That's my dad! He works on fraud cases! Nothing ever gets past him! He can sniff out any fraud there is!" she boasted enthusiastically.

"I see. So what are you doing in Beika? Doesn't your father work in Ekoda?"

"Well my dad has a case and he needed to investigate something in Beika so I decided to come along. I brought my friend too but… Argh! He disappeared somewhere and I can't find him and I think his cell's dead! If I ever get my hands on that idiot I'm going to give him a good one!" she exclaimed, punching the air in front of her.

"Ah, so um, i-is that why you bumped into me?" Shinko asked nervously, hoping to divert the girl's attention away from the rapidly increasing ferociousness towards the imaginary person.

Aoko stopped and turned back to her with a sheepish smile on her face. "Haha yeah. I was just kind of worried I mean, this is a pretty big place and we've never really been here before so…"

"So won't you get lost too?"

Aoko blinked and let out an embarrassed laugh. "I guess so…"

Shinko smiled. Aoko's vivacity reminded her faintly of Ren, the characteristic of which she found endearing. Maybe because it's a trait she doesn't have unless she went on a tirade about anything mystery or crime related.

"I can help you out if you want," she offered.

Aoko's eyes lit up. "Really? I mean, after I spilled your coffee all over you and everything? Ah! Not that I don't want your help. I'm very grateful if you can give it!"

"It's nothing. I'll help you find your friend and then we can go back to where your father is. It won't be a problem at all."

"Thank you so much!" Aoko said, looking relieved.

After Aoko paid for another cup of coffee, they both stepped outside and stood to the side while they discussed where they should look first.

"If I know that idiot half as well as I do, he'll probably be at the park doing magic tricks for kids or showing off," Aoko huffed. "But if he's not there, he might be hanging around shops looking for something he could prank people with." She pulled a face at this.

"Then let's start at the Beika Park. It's the largest park in the area."

Aoko nodded in agreement. "Got it. Let's go."

As they made their way to the park, Aoko began to describe what her friend looked like.

"His name's Kuroba Kaito and he has purplish eyes and really messy dark brown hair. He could break combs with that hair. He's very showy so it'll be hard to miss him. He's also annoying, mischievous oh and perverted too! He flips my skirt several times at school!" Aoko ranted.

Shinko gave her an amused look. "But you're friends with him anyway."

"Yeah we've been friends since childhood." Aoko smiled fondly. "And even though he's one big idiot, he's sweet and he knows when you're sad and cheer you right up again. He's clever too and even though he's really impish, he knows when to stop. He's just a fun person to hang around."

"That sounds a bit like my childhood friend," Shinko commented, smiling at the thought of Ren. "Well except for the idiot, perverted, annoying, and mischievous part."

"You have one too?"

"Yeah. He's really kind and gentle and he looks out for me. He's pretty protective and his karate could put dents into steel so…" Shinko winced at the memory of one unfortunate misunderstanding and hurried along. "He's understanding, smart, and patient and he helped me out countless times. I'm really glad he's my friend." She blinked at the grin on her companion's face. "What?"

"So do you like him?"

"Well of course I do. He's my best friend," Shinko said uncomprehendingly, increasingly unsure as Aoko's face turned dubious before letting out a laugh.

"W-what?" Shinko asked, starting to feel a bit self-conscious.

"No, no. I'm sorry I don't mean anything bad," Aoko placated, smiling consolingly. "I just meant that the way you talk about him, it sounded a lot like you were in love with him or something."

Shinko turned a bright red. "Oh no! I don't mean it like that! It's just… he's been the only person I can count on and he's a kind person but…" she trailed off, shrugging uncomfortably.

Aoko smiled understandingly. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me. Oh is this the place?"

They stopped in front of a wide pathway that split into two roads a distance away, circling around the trees at its center. Children were running around playing and chasing each other while the adults kept a close eye on them. Teenagers also milled about, chatting or playing a sport of some kind.

"We'll split up to save time. This path loops around so it's not hard to find your way. I'll take the path on the right."

Aoko agreed and they split up.

There were lots of people about especially since it was a perfect warm Sunday morning with clear, sunny skies but even in crowds, Shinko's keen eyes had been trained to pick out people she was searching for. No one with Aoko's description turned up.

Shinko dumped her empty coffee cup into a nearby trash can and when they met up again, both confirmed that they have not seen even a glimpse of Aoko's friend.

"Oh! I'm gonna kill him!" Aoko cried angrily.

"So we're going to check the shopping district next?" Shinko asked, steering her away from a rant. "But it's pretty big. Do you know which stores he'll be likely to frequent?"

"Hmm… Well if there are any magic shops he'll definitely go there. If not, the next best bet would be a candy or a toy store." Aoko pulled an exasperated face. "He's such a kid."

Shinko nodded slowly as the boy at the carnival from the previous day flashed across her mind.

"If that's the case, I know several places. Let's go."

They checked every store the elusive Kaito could be but the search proved fruitless. With every store that they visited and with every clerk that shook their head at Kaito's description, Aoko's face soured more and more. She broke out more often into angered tirades but Shinko detected underlying worry she tried to cover up. The teen detective tried her best to reassure her but with each passing minute, she could tell Aoko was growing more and more anxious.

When they had checked the last store, Aoko's shoulders slumped in resignation. "Maybe he's already back with dad," she sighed doubtfully but Shinko put a forefinger to her chin thoughtfully.

"Can you tell me where Kaito and you were the last time you were with him?"

"Sure. Um… We were at a police station um… I think the Beika Police Station? Well we decided to explore a bit while dad finished up with the investigators there. I think we made it to an ice-cream shop before I lost track of him."

"Can you tell me where this ice-cream shop is?"

"I don't know the address but I know it had a large sundae cut-out placed beside the door and the inside was painted a light green…" Aoko flushed. "I'm sorry. I'm not being very helpful."

Shinko smiled at her reassuringly. "No you are. Here, let's try going back there. Maybe we'll have some clue from there where he could be."

The other girl nodded in agreement and they both tried to trace their way to the shop. Aoko gave inputs on familiar-looking landmarks and Shinko guided their way based on her knowledge of the area.

At last they arrived to a dainty ice-cream shop with cursive golden letters stenciled carefully on the windows that said the shop's name was The Dollhouse.

Shinko's eyes scanned the street.

What could be of interest to someone like Kaito?

There was a clothes store directly across the street. To the left was a grocery and to the right was bookstore. None of these would have appealed to Kaito enough to have left his friend so unceremoniously.

"If I'm not mistaken, Kaito is a magician right?" Shinko asked, turning towards her.

Aoko nodded in affirmation. "He's first and foremost a magic buff. He's taken after his dad to become the greatest magician in the world."

"I think I may know where he was."

Aoko's eyes widened. "Really? Where?"

"He might already be gone but we can always ask around for him. If he's as good a magician as I think he is, there's no way anyone could forget him so easily."

Shinko led Aoko a short distance through the maze of the city until they reached a quaint little restaurant.

"This restaurant's famous for its live shows and food. Every Sunday they hold competitions and the winner gets a silver token and a prize. If the winner collects five, they'll receive a gold token. Collect five of those and you'll pretty much have free meals for as long as you're in at least third place. Every time you don't make it to third place, you lose a silver token." Shinko explained as she entered the establishment with Aoko trailing behind her. "Every week, they also happen to have someone passing out fliers around this area. Kaito might not be from Beika but I would imagine that someone like him couldn't resist this opportunity."

"Wow," Aoko gasped in amazement at the inside.

It looked very much like a theater from the gleaming hardwood floor to the arched chandeliered ceiling. At the very front of the room was a large platform with dark purple velvet curtains. Tables were neatly arranged so that chairs could be pushed out comfortably without bumping into others and each held a candle, a vase containing a single flower of different kinds, and a menu.

As Aoko looked around, Shinko approached one of the waiters behind a counter by the doorway.

"Welcome to Commedia dell'Arte. How may I help you?" the waiter greeted.

"Hello. I'm looking for someone who might have been here. His name is Kuroba Kaito and he has purplish eyes…" she trailed off when the waiter nodded his head in amusement.

"Oh yes that guy. Boy he sure riled up the guests today. It was one of the best acts I have ever seen and I've worked here for five years." He shook his head. "Absolutely fantastic. Pure art."

"Yes I'm looking for him. Do you by any chance know where he went?"

"Hmm well I think he headed towards the right although I can't really be sure. He just vanished off stage after an encore but I might have caught a glimpse of him out the window."

"I see. Thank you."

Shinko turned back to Aoko. "It seems he was here."

The other girl looked happier at the news but a bit put-off. "I know he loves to perform but did he have to just up and vanish like that without telling me? I wouldn't have said no if he asked."

Shinko didn't answer but led the way out again.

So Kaito had been in the restaurant and it seemed like he might have been held back by the patrons. If he was held back and found out his phone was dead, where would he have gone?

Logically, the best solution was to go back to Aoko's father and have him call his daughter to let her know her friend is with him but no such call was made which meant two possibilities. One was that Kaito was lost but if he was half as smart as Aoko had made him seem, he would have stayed at the ice-cream shop waiting for her to come back again since wandering around a big foreign city was a bit counterproductive in finding a moving person. Not to mention the fact he could have asked for directions and returned to the Beika Police Station to meet with Inspector Nakamouri but again, no call was made. The other reason was quite understandable. Considering the fact that they had grown up together, Kaito would have been aware Aoko wouldn't be too happy with him and having seen her temper first-hand, he might want something to placate her.

"Aoko, what kinds of things do you like best?"

The other girl looked confused at the sudden question but answered anyway. "I guess I like flowers and plush toys… Why do you ask?"

"Because Kaito might be in a store that sells them. Let's go check the shop over there," Shinko suggested, pointing to a flower shop at the corner of the street across from them.

Aoko still looked a bit lost but agreed anyway.

A cheerful tinkling of a bell announced their entrance amidst gorgeous flowers of every kind and color that seemed to glow vibrantly from the midafternoon sunTowards the back was a small wooden counter but no one in sight was there to man it and towards the right crouching in front of a group of flowers was…

"Kaito!" Aoko cried furiously, stomping over to him.

Kaito jumped and swiveled towards her in terrified surprise. He backed away from the angry girl, putting his hands up in a parody of surrender.

"Why hello there Aoko. Fancy bumping into you here," Kaito tittered, a charming smile on his face but Aoko was not buying it.

"Don't give me that!" she snapped, looking like she was about to punch something. Preferably her friend's face. "Where were you? I was worried sick! I was lucky that Shinko-chan was kind enough to put up with me long enough to find you!"

"Shinko?" Kaito asked curiously, looking over Aoko's shoulder to see Shinko standing a bit awkwardly at the entrance. He smiled and quickly skirted around the displeased girl towards the detective, happy for the distraction.

"Well hello there. I believe we've met before haven't we?"

Shinko nodded. "Yes, at the carnival yesterday right?"

Kaito's smile brightened. "I'm glad you remember! We haven't introduced ourselves properly have we? I'm Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms out as a rain of confetti showered down on him from seemingly nowhere.

"I'm Kudo Shinko. Nice to meet you," Shinko introduced in turn.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Aoko asked interestedly, walking up to them.

"Yeah! We met at the carnival I went to yesterday which you didn't go to because you were on a date with Hakuba," Kaito explained, wrinkling his face at the name.

Aoko turned red even as she huffed, looking annoyed. "It wasn't a date! It—" She cut herself off with a firm shake of her head, her face regaining its normal color, and refocused her laser glare at her friend. "Don't try to distract me baKaito! Why did you just disappear like that?"

"I didn't disappear exactly. I mean you found me right?" he looked towards Shinko. "It's pretty impressive you've managed to find where I am. Do you do this often with wayward friends?"

"No it's just that tracking people is part of my job sometimes… Ah." Shinko blinked in surprise as Aoko gripped a nearby broom and swung it at the magician who ducked it fluidly.

"H-hey now Aoko," Kaito protested weakly.

"Answer me baKaito!" Aoko roared, raising the broom as though she was holding a baseball bat.

"Should we really be doing this in here? I mean—whoa!"

"I won't destroy anything here. The only thing I want to damage is you!" A fierce swing. "How could you just disappear like that?" A downward sweep. "I was so afraid that you might be lost and you couldn't find your way!" A sideswipe.

"Hey! How can I explain if you're trying to kill me?" Kaito yelped as a blow came close to hitting his leg.

Shinko watched the scene in a daze, half amused and half amazed. There was something remarkable about how well Aoko could utilize a common cleaning tool as a deadly weapon and how well Kaito was dodging her hits. It looked a bit rather rehearsed though, telling Shinko this wouldn't be the first time Aoko had to chase Kaito around the room wielding something although maybe she should intervene. She felt a bit sorry for the magician.

She stepped between them and neatly caught Aoko's wrist as she swung the broom downwards.

Startled that she was so suddenly stopped, her gaze shifted to Shinko who, seeing that she's gotten her attention, started speaking. "Wait a minute. Calm down Nakamouri-san. I don't think Kuroba-san left you behind purposely."

"Then why?"

"Because the prize given out today at Commedia dell'Arte was a rare, limited edition plush toy from the Kiyo Company."

Aoko froze, eyes widening. "From… the Kiyo Company?"

Seeing that she was now listening, Kaito jumped at the chance. "Someone was handing out fliers so I took one and I saw that Commedia dell'Arte was offering to give an exclusive plush toy to the winner of this week's show. You were busy talking to the ice-cream shop worker and I thought it wouldn't take long and if it did, I'd just call you. I was planning to give you the prize as a surprise and I also heard about the restaurant so I thought I'd give it a try so I slipped out and performed there. It took a lot longer than I hoped and when I went to call you, the batteries on my cell was dead. I thought that if I have at least the plush, you wouldn't be so willing to kill me for going off on my own like that but the audience demanded an encore and well… I gave one. By the time I was finished it was really late. I planned to go back to Inspector Nakamouri and have him call you but I decided to get you flowers too so I could calm you down enough to give the plush and…" Kaito gestured at his surroundings, "That's why I'm here. To be honest, I didn't expect you to find me here."

"Oh…" Aoko lowered her weapon. "So you were only planning to surprise me… But still. You really scared me you idiot!"

"I'm sorry Aoko," Kaito apologized, sincerity in his voice. "Here. Hold out your hands."

Aoko did as instructed, her palms facing upward. There was a puff of gray smoke and a cute purple octopus wearing a small black felt top hat dropped onto her hands. Four mini octopuses of various colors and patterns clung to its tentacles and all of them had watery-looking bead eyes with V-shaped mouths. The octopus's tentacles curled around a bundle of hydrangeas underneath it along with a small card reading 'I'm sorry' in elegant letters.

"Mr. Hattie," Aoko murmured, gently running her fingers over the toy.

"Yeah. I remembered how much you loved him when we were little and how upset you were when his show got cancelled," Kaito said, also looking down at the octopus, a smile quirking his lips at the memory.

"Yeah I was... Silly Kaito. That was a long time ago," chided Aoko, grin forming on her face as she looked adoringly upon the plush.

"You can never be too old for Mr. Hattie," Kaito objected merrily.

Shinko watched to the side, feeling more and more awkward. It felt so private that it was becoming extremely uncomfortable. She wondered if she should interrupt the moment to announce she was leaving but Kaito's attention diverted from the toy to her.

"Hey Shin-chan. Why don't you join us for dinner?" Kaito invited, suddenly focusing on her which also caused Aoko to turn her attention towards the lone girl standing a bit of a distance away.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Aoko chimed eagerly.

Shinko agreed that it _could _be fun. The two were fun people and together, they formed a humorous dynamic but she wasn't sure if she should. One awkward moment was enough and she wasn't sure how she'll do with two other people with her. If she had any company, it was usually one at a time and it was usually Ren but she didn't know these two very well and it made her a bit nervous.

Seeing her hesitation and the conflicting uncertainty flashing in her eyes, Kaito bounded up to her.

"If you refuse, you'll have to go on a date with me," Kaito said playfully, making a red rose appear in his hand.

Shinko stared at him, starting to blush. She was sure he wasn't serious but still, her heart jumped. It embarrassed her somewhat but she couldn't help it. No one had ever suggested they go on a date with her before.

"I'll join I guess," Shinko muttered, looking away before looking him in the eye and stating firmly, "But don't call me Shin-chan."

She didn't see Kaito's smile soften nor hear him chuckle under his breath as she walked towards the door.

Dinner that night was a very lively, eventful affair during which she was introduced to Inspector Nakamouri Ginzo.

Shinko was surprised at how natural it felt to be in their company. She had thought she might feel excluded since it was a dinner between family and friends but between their antics and their conversations, it was almost impossible to be left out.

That day, she found that she had gained not one friend but two.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey sorry if you found some characters OoC. I tried my best to stay true to them under the circumstances and I believe that it doesn't matter how smart you are, anybody would feel doubt about themselves if people avoided you and Shinko's only human even if she's a prodigal detective so I'm not trying to make her a damsel or anything.

I also made this KaiShin instead of genderbent ShinRan because for one reason, I like KaiShin XD But for a more logical reason, Ren can't be the guy who's brave enough to approach Shinko because he's already her best friend. I needed someone she's never met before bravely stand in front of her and ask her out against all odds of rejection and Ren can't do that since he already knew Shinko all his life so he knows she isn't really as unreachable as everyone thinks she is.

I kind of like how this went. It just flows.


	2. Climbing Up the Branches

I would like to thank everyone who has shown me support so far especially the people who took the time to write a review. Without further ado, the second chapter!

* * *

><p>"You look happy today. Did you something good happen yesterday?"<p>

Shinko blinked, tuning back into her surroundings from her cloud of daze, and turned to Ren walking beside her on their way to school. "I suppose. I made some new friends."

Upon hearing the news, Ren's expression immediately turned ecstatic. "That's great Shinko! Who are they? What are they like?"

"Well, one of them is Nakamouri Aoko and the other is Kuroba Kaito. They're both from Ekoda but Nakamouri-san's father had some business here and they went along with him. They got separated and I helped Aoko find Kaito." Shinko smiled, remembering them. "They're very interesting people."

"Be sure to introduce me to them next time okay?"

Shinko nodded, smiling. "Of course."

"Yo Ren!"

The aforementioned boy looked up to see Soutarou jogging towards them, waving.

"Good morning Soutarou," Ren greeted.

"Maaaan. You wouldn't believe it. I saw this cute girl looking for something in the streets yesterday and I offered to help her so…"

Shinko quickly tuned back out to avoid hearing another one of Soutarou's failed exploits at getting a girlfriend in favor of contemplating the case she got last night.

"Oh? What's this? Did you make a bento for your wife here too?" Soutarou asked teasingly, having managed to grab Ren's bag.

"Hey! T-that's—She's not my wife!" Ren spluttered, quickly turning a shade of red. "I-it's nothing new anyway. Come on Soutarou give that back."

"Ah, ah. I'll give it back only if you'll do what I advised at the carnival," he bargained, keeping Ren's bag well out of reach.

Before Ren could reply however, someone else had snatched the bag from Soutarou's fingers.

"It's not very nice to take people's belongings you know," a bouncy voice said.

The familiar tone jolted Shinko from her thoughts and, surprised, stared at Kaito standing in their midst, handing the bag back to its proper owner.

"Kaito? What are you doing here?" Shinko asked, voicing her astonishment.

The addressed boy gave a sheepish grin and a slight laugh. "Well you see, today my class is going on a field trip to an aquarium so I decided to skip and visit you!"

Shinko gave a skeptical look at the magician in front of her. "Wouldn't Aoko be angry at you?"

"Well maybe a little but she understands," Kaito explained airily, waving it away.

That still didn't explain why he was in Beika instead of Ekoda though.

"Shinko? Who's this?" Ren inquired, looking over at the newcomer.

"Ah. This is Kuroba Kaito. He's one of the friends I made yesterday. Kaito, this is Mouri Ren, my best friend and that is Suzuki Soutarou," Shinko introduced, gesturing towards each respective person as she did so.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Kaito said, bowing. "Shinko talked a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you too," Ren greeted politely.

Soutarou on the other hand sidled up towards Kaito and demanded rudely, "And what's your relationship with Shinko?"

Kaito blinked. "What?"

"Um… Well we better get going now or else we'll be late," Shinko said as a way of diversion, checking the time on her watch.

Kaito perked up and turned to look at her. "Can I come?" he asked eagerly, like a puppy begging to be taken home.

"Come?" Shinko repeated bewildered. "But—"

A puff of smoke covered the magician and the teen detective simply sighed while Ren and Soutarou stared, looking baffled. When it cleared, Kaito was wearing the Teitan High School uniform, much to the two other males' astonishment and to the slight exasperation of Shinko.

"Now it won't be a problem right?"

Shinko just leveled him a flat look. "Just don't cause any trouble."

"I won't!" Kaito chirped brightly.

"Is it really okay? I mean… Wouldn't the teachers notice?" Ren asked in a slightly perplexed tone, still seemingly dazed from the miniature magic show.

Kaito exaggeratedly stumbled back. "You question me?" he gasped.

"Kaito will be fine besides," Shinko said, walking again, "a simple no won't stop him. He'll probably just follow us and plant himself in our classroom anyway if he really wanted to come with us. It's just better to let him go with us so we can at least keep an eye on him."

"Okay…" Ren didn't sound very sure but he trusted Shinko's judgment although he didn't know what to think of him. He glanced over at Soutarou who was glaring at Kaito. It seems he'd already made up his mind about what he thought of the new boy though.

With that, they continued their journey to school now with an additional person in their group.

"So Kuroba-san?" Ren began, addressing Shinko's new friend.

"Just call me Kaito," the magician corrected in a jolly tone.

"Only if you'll call me Ren," he returned, smiling. "So Kaito, do you do magic tricks?"

Kaito gasped dramatically. "I don't just do mere 'magic tricks.' I do art."

"Using a bunch of string and pieces of rice just to peek under Aoko's skirt is not art," Shinko input monotonously.

"Au contraire, Shin-chan. It takes true talent to be able to use whatever tools that lay in front of me in order to pull off what I did last night."

Shinko gave him a withering look at the nickname but otherwise didn't comment on it instead retorting, "If that's the case, then I suppose mauling you with a spoon is also an art." She paused and added as an afterthought, "Which it is."

"Ah Shin-chan, my harshest critic, your words wound me right here," Kaito said in mock hurt, jabbing at his chest where his heart was.

Ren observed the exchange curiously, noting how open his childhood friend was, so unafraid to show her true colors. It made him feel relieved that Shinko was able to find someone she could simply be herself without fear of driving them away yet at the same time, it made his stomach clench slightly.

Shaking the feeling away with a scoff, he continued talking with Kaito, wanting to know him a little better as Shinko's new friend. So far, he found that he wasn't a bad person at all. He had a way with people that made anyone enjoy his presence and it was easy to see why even Shinko seemed to like him.

Soutarou, however, seemed more inclined to hang at the back of the group and shoot the newcomer nasty looks and snubbing him whenever Kaito tried to talk to him, to which the latter would simply shrug and continue chatting.

Ren fell back and elbowed his friend. "Can't you be a little nicer to Kaito?" he hissed.

"But Ren! He's stealing your wife away!" Soutarou argued, vehemently drilling a hole at Kaito's back.

Ren frowned and leveled a stern look. "Don't be ridiculous Soutarou. This is Shinko's one other friend besides us, Heiji, and Kazuha, and those two live in Osaka a few hours away so she basically only has us. We need to show some support," he said.

Soutarou seemed to think about it for a moment before sighing. "Fine but I'm not making promises," he grumbled, grudgingly relenting.

Ren smiled at him thankfully and patted him on the back as they entered the school.

"So this is where you go to school," Kaito said, looking around.

"It shouldn't be that different from your own," Shinko added, walking to her shoe locker. She glanced down at his feet and was totally unsurprised to find that he was already in his indoor shoes. "If I catch you doing anything funny, I'm going to kick you, clear?"

"Yes, yes, perfectly," Kaito said flippantly. Shinko just knew he was planning something. "Come on! I want to see your class!"

"Hold on I need to change my shoes you know. Not everyone could magically—" She stopped and looked down at her own feet to find that she was also in her indoor shoes. Letting out a puff of air, she glanced irritably at Kaito before looking over towards Ren and Soutarou who has yet to change their shoes. "I guess I'm going to go ahead. This idiot here can be persistent."

Ren smiled. "Okay. We'll catch up with you in a few," he said before making his way to his own locker with Soutarou.

Shinko gestured to follow and led the way up the hallways. As she did so, Kaito looked around in interest as though he was a tourist. The detective rolled her eyes. Was it really that exciting?

"Here we are," Shinko announced plainly, opening the door to her classroom and stepping inside, Kaito bouncing in beside her.

"Hmm… This place looks more normal than I thought."

"Well what did you expect? Not every school has the honor of having a student who paints the walls with abstract art every other day," Shinko said, sitting at her desk. Kaito stood in front of her, taking out a few juggling balls to occupy his hands.

"No I meant I would have thought there would be some kind of demented fan club stalking your every move, being a well-known detective and all," Kaito explained, his eyes roving the room where some students were milling about before classes started.

"Well there isn't, thank goodness," Shinko snorted, picking up what Kaito was saying behind those veiled words: How odd that no one approached you when you're so famous. She felt a flash of minor gloom at the connotation before it quickly vanished.

Kaito hummed before changing the topic about something else. Eventually, Ren and Soutarou, who seemed more willing to talk to the magician now than before, also joined them around Shinko's desk until the teacher entered. At his arrival, everyone returned to their desks as he walked to the front of the room. They did their ritualistic greeting before sitting back down.

"I will now take attendance," Kiyoteru announced, his gaze sweeping the room before stopping on Kaito sitting at the back. He arched a brow and inquired, "And who are you? You're not in this class."

"I'm not," Kaito agreed jovially as curious eyes peered at him.

"Then why are you here? Please go to your own classroom."

"Well the thing is I'm attending the class for the day to see what it's like. I might transfer here."

Kiyoteru frowned. "I was not informed of this."

"I am," Kaito said persistently.

The teacher was about to say something else before Shinko cleared her throat, calling his attention. She briefly glanced towards Kaito with a look that clearly said, _You owe me_, before turning back to her teacher.

"It's true sensei. Please let Kaito stay," she said quietly.

Kiyoteru looked a bit surprised that Shinko was vouching for him and after a moment's thought, conceded. "Alright but please be sure not to make any disturbances."

Kaito gave a wide grin and saluted. "Yes sir sensei!"

Once the teacher was finished with attendance, he began to instruct the class. "Alright then. Everyone, please open your books to page 232."

With that, Kiyoteru turned towards the board and the day's lessons started.

The day was passing by normally, not that Shinko was fooled by that façade because she didn't just think Kaito will do something. She _knew_. It was just a matter of when.

Lunch came and went. Kaito had even brought his own food, making Shinko suspect that he was planning to join her at school all along. Or he might just happen to have it in that mallet space of his and pulled it out. You can never know for certain with Kaito.

The first sign of trouble came towards the end of school.

It started with miniscule sounds of popping. Everyone ignored it thinking it was from somewhere outside. When it didn't go away and it became quite clear that it was coming from somewhere within the school building, everyone started glancing towards the door leading to the hallway curiously. It wasn't until a commotion was heard from the floor below that everyone started murmuring amongst themselves.

"Everyone stay here. I'll be right back," the teacher said hurriedly, rushing out the door.

Shinko stared after him before shooting a glare at Kaito who looked at her innocently.

Suddenly, several surprised shouts sounded in the hallway and all the students immediately rushed towards the door and into the hall to see what was happening.

Shinko on the other hand calmly made her way through the crowd and took a look at the scene in front of her.

Several teachers were slipping about on an orange gel, no doubt having been caught on it as they made their way towards the source of the commotion downstairs, while the walls were covered in a blue gel that bounced the teachers between them, much to the watching students' amusement.

"Wow they're like human ping-pong balls," Kaito whistled, suddenly appearing beside Shinko, admiring the way they ricocheted about like wayward rubber balls.

She immediately turned to Kaito and unhesitant, reached up to his face and pinched Kaito's cheeks, pulling them painfully. "You cheeky bastard. What did you do?"

"Owowowowow. Ish not vewy ladylike to cursh owowow!"

"That's fine," she deadpanned, pulling a little harder. "Now answer."

"I _might_ haf let shome animal balloonsh float into the roomsh below and they _might_ have turned into real animalsh and I _might_ haf done that to get the teachersh on thish floor to run into thish trap."

"I see," Shinko said blandly, giving him a blank look that told him she wasn't amused as she relinquished her grip on Kaito's cheeks.

He rubbed his face and directed a wounded puppy look towards Shinko to which she only met with an apathetic look.

"You," she proclaimed, "are an idiot."

Kaito gave her a bright grin as if it was a compliment. "Yup! And now…"

Shinko yelped as she was suddenly pushed onto the slippery gel. She fought to keep her balance for a grand total of five seconds before gravity won. As she was about to fall onto the floor, someone caught and steadied her. She gave a heated look at Kaito, who only smiled at her.

"Shall we?" he asked in a chipper voice.

Before Shinko could wonder what he meant by that, she suddenly found herself twirled about before Kaito caught her, his left hand on her waist and his right hand twining with her left. As they took a step, Shinko reflexively gripped Kaito's shoulder with her right hand in fear of slipping. It took a short while before she managed to find her balance on the gel and when she did, Kaito began to move a little faster. Together, they danced about on the floor as though they were skating on ice, Kaito guiding her expertly and neatly dodging the clumsy movements of the teachers still bouncing about.

At this point, Shinko couldn't find it within herself to be irritated. It was actually rather fun and humorous in a way. Here she was, dancing so elegantly on the slippery material as if she was in a ballroom and here the teachers were, flailing vainly about like fish out of water. It made her laugh.

If possible, Kaito's grin grew at the sound as he continued to lead Shinko around the hall.

Eventually, the gel seemed to have hardened until they lost their properties, putting an end to the show.

The teachers looked rather harassed and messy covered from head to toe in the dry gunk they were bouncing off of.

Kaito led Shinko off the dance floor of dried gel, both smiling.

"That was fun. We should do that again," Kaito proposed cheerfully.

"No we aren't. I think the teachers have been traumatized enough to last a lifetime," Shinko opposed, amusement tingeing her voice.

The magician pouted down at her. "You're no fun."

"I only have everyone's mental wellbeing in mind."

"Shinko!"

The aforementioned person turned towards Ren as he made his way towards her.

"Are you okay?" he asked even though he already knew the answer. Still, it didn't hurt to ask.

Soutarou was frowning at Kaito beside him, once again glaring at the magician as if he was some personification of some plague.

"I'm fine," Shinko answered.

Ren let out a breath of relief. "That's good…"

The bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of the school day and the day's amusing event.

"I guess we're going home now," Ren commented shrugging. "I don't think the teachers will be too happy that we've missed the last few minutes of class." He let out a strained laugh and Shinko frowned.

"Ren—" She was cut short as her childhood friend took her hand and pulled her away very much like that day at the carnival.

"We better get going then."

"But what about Kaito and Soutarou?"

She felt the hand tighten minutely before relaxing again.

"They'll catch up."

The strange tone in Ren's voice worried her and she desperately wanted to know what was bothering him so she halted, forcing Ren to also stop.

He peered back at Shinko. "What's wrong?"

"No. There's nothing bothering me but there's something bothering you. Tell me what's wrong, Ren. Please?" Shinko implored, allowing him to see her worry.

"There's nothing wro—"

"There is," Shinko said stubbornly, leveling a look at him.

Ren mulled it over. He knew he couldn't exactly keep lying to her. She was perceptive with the added plus of being his childhood friend. Not only that but she can be very determined, especially in regards to his condition. If he kept refusing to tell her, she'll just force it out of him much like how he would force out Shinko's troubles out sooner or later. Soutarou's advice floated through his mind and he sighed in resignation. It looks like he has no choice.

"Okay… But not here. Can we at least go somewhere else?"

Shinko nodded and they silently made their way outside and into a coffee shop they often frequent together. It was crowded with students as it would usually be after school but the noise level simply ensured that no one could overhear them. They ordered some coffee and seated themselves at a table.

There was a pause in which both clutched their coffee in silence until Ren cleared his throat, looking flustered, red beginning to bloom in his face.

"Well ah… About what's wrong… Um… The truth is Shinko is that I…" He seemed to have lost his nerve and he clamped his mouth shut, fiddling with the coffee cup between his hands.

Shinko simply waited patiently until he was ready to talk.

"The truth is—is that I um… I…" He stopped again and took a deep breath, burying his head in his hands. He seemed to be building his resolve and after a few moments, he looked up at Shinko again this time with determination.

"Shinko, I love you."

The moment she heard it, Shinko turned a bright red at the confession. The explosion of heat in her head muddled her mind and her thoughts danced about her in a whirlwind but amidst the confusion, she managed to grasp a few handfuls of her scattered thoughts and emotions.

The first was the feeling of surprise. Was that the reason why Ren seemed to be acting strangely? If that was so, all those blushes, those shy gestures and glances made sense. After this revelation, she immediately felt guilt. She knew she only viewed Ren as a friend, a wonderful one but not as a love interest. How long has he been harboring those feelings? How could she not have noticed? It was probably because she had been so caught up with her own stupid problems that she hadn't even considered what her best friend might feel about her. Just because she didn't have any feelings for Ren didn't mean he also didn't.

She wondered what she should say. She didn't want to hurt Ren's feelings but she didn't want to lie. She should apologize first for not noticing anything and not considering his feelings but before she could conjure a response, Ren interrupted her thoughts.

"I'm sorry about dropping this on you all of a sudden. I know you don't feel the same way." His voice was a dejected acceptance and it sent pangs of helplessness through her.

"Ren, I'm—"

He shook his head, a quiet smile on his face. "Don't be sorry. You have no reason to be. If anything, I should be apologizing for dropping this on you when I know you don't feel the same way. You can't help how you feel and I know you'll go blaming yourself."

"But you…" Shinko faltered, unsure.

Ren's smile spread into a broad, sincere smile, his eyes alighting. "Really Shinko, it's alright. You know, Soutarou tried to put me up to this and confess just in case you really did feel the same way. He also told me to do it before someone else comes along and does it first but I already knew that you only saw me as a friend and forcing this on you would only make you uncomfortable but today I had no choice. Otherwise, I'd have kept quiet so you wouldn't go blaming yourself for not noticing or even feeling the same way."

Shinko felt slightly lightened at his acceptance but she was still mostly hesitant and guilty.

"But it's not like you can sweep away these kinds of feelings in a single instant," she voiced in concern.

"It'll take time of course," Ren said, shrugging. "There's no way around it. It's just one of those things where you just wait it out. Obviously, I'm still going to be your best friend and the guy who will beat up whoever makes you upset."

Shinko gave a small smile at that. "Not if I get to them first," she joked back lightly.

Ren was as strong as ever. She had no doubts that he would be fine even if her mind was still a bit hesitant but she trusted that he was telling the truth and that he'd pull through. Pushing the issue any further isn't going to get anywhere especially when Ren has already reached an understanding.

"Oh and sorry about grabbing you like that all of a sudden," Ren apologized sheepishly. "I don't know what came over me."

Shinko grinned teasingly. "Could it be that you were jealous?"

Ren flushed again. "I am not!" he denied although the red on his face gave him away.

His best friend simply continued to grin at him and he glared at her sulkily. "I hate you."

Shinko laughed. "You're very confused aren't you?"

"Yes. Yes I am," Ren agreed, laughing too. "Maybe we should try to find Kaito and Soutarou now. We did leave them behind rather unexpectedly."

"You call Soutarou and I'll call Kaito."

"Okay. I hope Soutarou hadn't killed Kaito," Ren muttered as he fished out his cell phone.

A few calls later and the four were reunited at a corner not far from the school.

Soutarou was now sporting a rather bizarre outfit that resembled his school uniform, much to his disgruntlement, with a cheerily grinning Kaito by his side.

"Sorry for calling you when you were probably on your way home," Ren apologized to them both.

"Not to worry. We had a little chat of our own too," Kaito piped out.

Soutarou looked over questioningly at Ren who shook his head to signal a 'not now.'

Together, the group walked through the streets, conversing with one another energetically until one by one, each member parted until only Kaito and Shinko were left.

"I suppose you should be going home now."

"Mmm I suppose. But not yet."

"Why not? But a better question would be why were you even in Beika in the first place?" Shinko looked over at him with sharp eyes.

"Because I wanted to see you!" Kaito burst out, showering both of them with confetti.

"But that isn't the only reason why you're in Beika, is it?"

Kaito smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Funny how I seem to keep getting pulled back to Beika," he mused. He gestured for Shinko to follow as he went a different way from her house or the train station. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" she inquired, interest piqued, following him.

"A place," Kaito responded vaguely.

Shinko rolled her eyes. "Really?" she asked sarcastically but kept quiet afterwards. She was a bit curious as to where Kaito's true destination had been.

A few minutes later, they were standing in front of a pair of elegant doors leading into a theater. She recognized it as the Rentaro Theater, a rather well-known establishment that's slowly making a name for itself.

So Kaito was going to see a show here. It's not so unusual especially if someone was performing magic but for him to travel from Ekoda to Beika, on a school day no less, and the fact that he might be counted as a rising professional that probably wouldn't bother with cheap tricks told Shinko this was no amateur performance. Now she was really interested as to whom they're going to see although she already had an inkling.

"Shi—n-chan! Helloooo! Will the detective kindly step back into reality please?"

Shinko blinked at the hand waving in front of her vision and she glared. "Stop that."

"Good to know you're back with me. Don't want your thoughts stealing you away from me now would I? Let's go in," Kaito said, unperturbed.

They trekked through the majestic lobby and into the grand theater room where quite a crowd has already gathered for the show. They walked down the aisle and sat on the plush crimson seats near the front.

"I'm guessing you've planned for me to come with you all along."

"Yup!"

"And I'm also guessing this is something you'd want me to see."

"Of course!"

They didn't speak much after this, content to simply sit and wait or in Kaito's case, do a few card and coin tricks. After ten minutes, the lights dimmed, signaling the start of the show. No announcement was made about who was performing. Instead, a solid white mist crept onto the stage so thick that it looked like clouds. In the center, it started bulging upwards before refining itself into the shape of a man wearing a top hat and fluttering cape. The details sharpened more and more, color bleeding into the mist even as the man started moving, bowing to his audience.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I am the phantom magician KID, here to indulge your senses with pleasantries and fill your minds with dreams and wonder." As he spoke, the mist around him molded itself into the vivid shapes of various objects before melting back down once again.

By now, the man was fully rendered and solidified from the mist but even so, the transition was so smooth that it was uncertain whether he was truly real.

"For this performance, I would like to tell the story of the magpie, the blackbird, and the snake."

Immediately, flowers and grass started peeking through the floor of the entire room, rapidly shooting upwards and before she knew it, it was like she wasn't in a theater anymore. She was in a field of flowers that felt so real that Shinko could smell their sweet fragrance and feel the velvety petals of the blooms.

Eventually, the scent of forest overwhelmed the senses and dark leafy shadows seemed to cover the audience. On the stage, sprouts peeked out from the ground, rapidly growing into trees right before the audience's eyes. There was a sound of soft hissing that grew louder and louder until suddenly, KID was surrounded in a swirl of sand that eventually spread itself out across the stage behind him. As the sand slid onto the ground, a torrent of water replaced the sand and slithered into the air where it spread out over him. It hovered there for a second before it suddenly crashed down with a great splash onto the sand. It churned about before finally settling down, receding and flowing like the ocean upon a beach.

Shinko felt something settling firmly around her shoulders. She grasped the soft yet slightly stiff material and held it in front of her. It was a small cape of onyx raven feathers. She looked towards Kaito grinning at his bushy orange fox tail, a pair of fox ears sitting on his head. Glancing around, she found that everyone else also sported various forest animal attires and Shinko could even spot a pair of small antlers at a distance.

A loud chirp directed her attention back on stage where some of the remaining mist took the form of a blackbird but before it could be completely colored, it shot out of its confines and circled KID whose cape was suddenly turning into magpie feathers. He walked towards the audience right off the edge of the stage and in a few graceful movements, leaped up into the air and floated there, his feathered cape spreading out like wings. He wrapped it around himself and seemed to shrink until a real magpie unfurled its wings from around itself and darted to a branch.

KID materialized out of the water miraculously dry.

As the story progressed, Shinko was frozen in awe at the seemingly unlimited amounts of impossible feats the magician can accomplish the least of which he cloned himself into three people. Its imagination was infinite and its mystical wonder was boundless. It captured her mind like a net to the point where she wasn't simply watching the show. She was a _part_ of it.

If Kaito's show had been breathtaking then this one simply had no words to describe its endless creativity and impossibilities that can only be explained by one word: magic.

Even long after the show, Shinko's mind was still reeling with the fragments of magic the magician had imparted like an enchantment upon her memory, something unforgettable and mysterious.

"Did you like it?" Kaito asked perkily, an extra bounce in his step as he escorted Shinko through the dark streets at his insistence.

"I can't find words adequate enough to describe that experience," Shinko replied, smiling contentedly as if in a dream.

"Glad you loved it. That was my dad, Kuroba Toichi." Kaito said proudly, beaming. "He's very sought after because his shows are very unique and creative so they leave a lasting impression on his audience. His appearances are sporadic though but that's why they're so special. Sometimes he'd let me perform for smaller events like the carnival as a kind of practice."

"I see. I figured as much," Shinko murmured to herself.

"You should meet him someday! My mom too! They'd love to get to know you!" Kaito said enthusiastically.

"I might have work though."

"You're such a spoilsport," Kaito booed, sticking out his tongue.

Shinko simply rolled her eyes at the childish display. "If by spoilsport you mean responsible then yes I am."

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Why do you have to work so hard anyway?" Kaito asked, speaking the quote in English.

"Because cases aren't going to solve themselves. You never know if a murderer might kill another person so the faster they're caught, the less likely they will harm anyone else," Shinko replied, having had no problems deciphering the English. "So the reason you were in Beika was because your father was performing here and you probably thought that while you're here, you might as well drop by right?" she asked, blatantly changing topics. She really didn't need another person to make remarks about her work habits. Ren was enough.

"Yup! Why not visit you _and _show off my dad while I'm here?" Kaito said brightly, not commenting on the abrupt topic change.

"Aoko told me you were following in his footsteps."

"I am but at the same time I'm not." He paused.

Sensing the cue for her to ask, Shinko sighed in good humor. "How is that?"

"I will be a magician like my dad, true but I will be even _better_," Kaito proclaimed under a spray of glitter sparkling dazzlingly in the light of the temporary spotlight that shone down on him.

"Better," Shinko murmured under her breath, contemplative. It was a tall order. Toichi's show was nothing short of masterful but she knew Kaito didn't view it as a chore. He thought of it as a challenge.

It must be wonderful to have a goal to aim towards, to have some sense of direction that provides challenge. The only goal Shinko had was to go into law enforcement and become a detective but that wasn't exactly a goal especially since she was already doing detective work. She didn't have anyone to surpass either. Her intelligence ensured that. It was just another one of those things that reminded her that the road she walks is a dull, lonely one.

"Doesn't Shin-chan have a goal?" Kaito asked, breaking Shinko from her thoughts.

"Not anything worth mentioning."

The magician pouted. "Aw but you must have something?"

Shinko shook her head. "No. Everything I want is already set in front of me. My career, finances… There's nothing I really have to work for. I guess it's a side-effect of being born rich and smart," Shinko said, feeling a bit wistful.

Kaito frowned. "You see it as a side-effect?"

"Well I'm not saying being rich and smart is bad but it does have its tradeoffs like almost everything else," she said. Like the fake circle of "friends" that had swarmed her in her early years before she learned to ward them off and now nobody swarmed her. In fact, they go out of their way to avoid her which is just as bad.

Shinko sighed, shaking herself from the negative thoughts. "Well it's fine. I still enjoy solving mysteries and murders and I still have friends. Even if I don't have a set goal, I'm still surrounded by the things I like." She cast a smile towards Kaito who grinned back.

The sound of a cell phone went off. Excusing himself, Kaito took the call.

"Hey! Yup! I was there, not that you needed me to tell you that… Oh I'm just escorting my friend back home… No it's fine… Yeah… Okay… I'll see you at home then!" Snapping his phone closed, he turned toward Shinko. "My dad. We always go out to eat together after all the hubbub from his shows die down."

"Oh. I'm sorry for disrupting your time with your father," Shinko apologized.

"No it's okay. I wouldn't let a lady walk home by herself at night. That's not something a gentleman would do," Kaito said dramatically. "Besides, we can always go out another time."

"But spending time with your family is important. Every minute is precious," she said, thinking about her own parents. It was hard when they first moved out the moment she could take care of herself. Now they were just fleeting thoughts in her mind but it still made her feel upset sometimes and a bit envious of other children who had parents who took them to the park or family outings. It would have been a bit lonely at home, she supposed, if she weren't so used to it. In fact, she grew to like the quiet. She simply didn't have a choice. That might have been one of the reasons she grew up so quiet and a bit antisocial. Still, it didn't mean she didn't want to interact with others. She was human after all and humans were social creatures.

"That's true. I guess I might've taken my outings for granted," Kaito agreed, sighing. "It might get to the point where I start to think, 'if I can't spend time with my parents today, I'll just spend time with them another day' but you never know when that day may come. Still, it's nice to spend time with people other than your parents sometimes." He glanced towards Shinko. "You know from experience?"

Shinko nodded. "My parents went to America the moment I could take care of myself so they've been gone for several years now. They don't visit a lot even during Christmas."

"That's rather irresponsible," Kaito commented, frowning.

Shinko simply shrugged. "Maybe to others but I'm used to their eccentric behavior. They do what they want. It's just how they are."

"You're rather accepting."

"No use agonizing over it all the time and wishing they were different."

They had reached the front door of the Kudo manor, a big house that was rather much too large for a single person to inhabit alone. It stood dark and empty against the night, shadowed and lonely.

"I guess this is where we say good-night," Shinko said, standing in front of the door facing Kaito. "Thank you for walking me back."

"It was no problem!" Kaito said happily, sweeping into an elegant bow.

Shinko smiled. "I had fun tonight. I'm… really glad I got to talk to you."

He returned the smile softly. "You know… Shin-chan…"

The sound of his phone going off yet again interrupted him. Grinning apologetically, he took the call.

"Yeeees? No I'm with Shin-chan escorting her home after dad's show! Hey! I resent that… Okay fine… But I have a good reason! Fine, fine… Tell Hakuba I'll make sure to make up for today's lack of pranks tomorrow… 'K bye!" Kaito put away his phone and returned his attention to Shinko. "Aoko this time," he said laughing.

"Well I wouldn't want to keep you away from your home later than needed. Good night Kaito. Have a safe trip home."

"Good night to you too Shin-chan! I'll see you again soon!"

He presented a red rose to Shinko and, with a perky smile, left.

Shinko entered her dark house feeling much more content than she had ever felt in weeks.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Ack! Why does this thing need _three_ chapters! I only intended a long one-shot! But I guess there's no way around it especially since I had scattered ideas for the story and playing connect the dots with them doesn't always result in a straight line and if I try to force it into a line, it'd be awkward and clunky. Sigh…

So yeah. I had to take a huge detour to give Ren closure because it'd be kind of stupid to let that hang. I've seen it in countless stories where the, so to speak, "third-wheel" just gets left out while the main couple gets their happily ever after. People you can't just leave out characters as you please. That kind of thing gives me palpitations. Plus, I want Kaito and Shinko to get to know each other better otherwise it'd be like a "love at first sight" scenario and I'd much rather it not be.

Points if you caught the reference towards a game and a famous Japanese software.


	3. Apple of My Eye

Hello everyone and apologies for the late update. I had severe writer's block so I'm glad I finally got over that. Thank you for your patience and reviews except for one. That review was just plain rude. I would like to take a few minutes to make a big deal out of this.

Authors are human too. We have our own lives and sometimes we lose inspiration. _Reading _the stories is easy enough but good stories take a lot of time and care to write. We have to take a lot into consideration such as plot, characterization, interactions, etc. with a lot of editing and idea scrapping. Writing this chapter alone had me scrap at _least_ five different scenarios, some of which took up almost two pages before I deleted them and I wept to think I had to start over but I did it in order to make reading this story as enjoyable as possible.

Why else shouldn't you demand updates? In an extreme example, author's family member had died.

Author comes home, goes to e-mail, clicks the Review Alert in their inbox and this message pops up:

UPDATE!

...

I was offended enough as it was when I opened that review in my e-mail now imagine how that person in the example would feel if they saw that. The problem is you don't know if something like this has happened. Things like this DO happen and you never know if it's occurring. For the sake of being sensitive and considerate to the possible uncontrollable circumstances someone may be going through, I ask that you please refrain from doing this to any other authors in the future and that hopefully, I'm the only one you've done this to. This also goes for anybody else who has written similar "reviews" for other stories.

Thank you and enjoy.

* * *

><p>It has been three weeks since Shinko went to KID's performance and three weeks since she had last seen Kaito. Since then, Shinko had slowly slipped away from that night of magical fantasy back into reality.<p>

She looked down at her notebook almost dejectedly.

Now that she had a taste of vivacious joy, her ordinary life didn't feel the same anymore. It suddenly felt too rigid and gray without the vibrancy known as Kaito to paint it. She knew she would get used to it sooner or later and it wasn't like she would never see the magician again but still, she missed him. She missed his mischief and jokes that made her smile and laugh, she missed holding conversations with him whether they were silly or not, she missed how he just seemed to know what to do or say to make her troubles go away but most of all, she missed the way he treated her like a normal person.

Ren seemed to have caught on to her mood. As her best friend, she could always count on him to be able to catch on to things whether she wanted him to or not. Strangely enough, he kept giving her secretive little smiles and his eyes seemed to light up at some kind of private revelation, like he knew something she didn't. Shinko knew that when he acts like that, it meant she was missing something very obvious and she so hated missing anything _especially_ something that should be right under her nose.

That very same person was now waving at her from the doorway to their classroom. "I have karate practice today so you'll have to go by yourself. I'll see you tomorrow!" he said, a little too cheerfully for his own good.

"Good-bye," Shinko mumbled and sullenly stared after him as he left before she began to pack her belongings and head home.

She wished Ren would just tell her what it was but any attempts to question him simply ended in a change of topic and a wide smirk. She just knew he was enjoying this.

A slip of her fingers caused her pen to roll a distance away towards two students engaged in a conversation. One of them seemed to notice the writing utensil rolling towards him and they immediately hushed when they spotted Shinko approaching but made no moves to pick up the pen.

As she got closer, they started to fidget and avoided eye contact with her. Shinko spared them a quick glance each, slowly picked up her wayward tool, and headed back to her desk, biting her lip as she tucked the pen away in her bag with the rest of her supplies.

She really missed Kaito.

The remains of her good mood thoroughly shattered, she morosely finished packing and meandered out of the school and stepped into the courtyard.

As she approached the gateway, she noticed a very familiar figure leaning against a gatepost of the school's wall, idly whistling. When the figure spotted her, he broke into a grin and gave a jaunty wave.

Kaito.

She sped up to meet the magician, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

"Yo, Shin-chan!" he greeted merrily. He was still in his black school uniform, earning him curious looks from other students.

"Kaito! What're you doing here?" she asked, feeling pleasantly surprised.

"Visiting you of course!" Kaito chirped. He scrutinized her carefully. "You were looking a bit out of it back there. You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking about a few things."

Kaito hummed but said nothing, looking thoughtful.

A lull in conversation settled over them.

Eventually Shinko's attention drifted over to the throngs of students passing by as the pause persisted, feeling a tad awkward. Movement from Kaito quickly redirected her focus back to him but tensed warily when she saw him reaching towards her but an orchid simply popped into his hand. He tucked it behind her ear, brushing a few strands of hair away as he did so, and lingered near the flower a moment longer before retracting his hand.

"There. You look very beautiful like that!"

Shinko turned pink and avoided his eyes. "Thank you," she mumbled, shifting the bag in her hands nervously and carefully replacing the flower amongst her supplies.

Kaito smiled and gently took her hand. "Come on. Walk with me?"

Shinko nodded and they set out. After a few minutes, she noticed that the magician had still yet to let go of her hand. A blush set itself anew on her face.

"So um… Where are we going?" Shinko asked in an attempt to distract herself from their linked hands.

Kaito's smile widened. "Oh nowhere and everywhere. We'll just hang out for the day."

"Ah well if that's the case, do you mind if we swing by the bookstore? I want to pick up a few things."

"Sure!"

A little distance away from the school, they entered a bookstore already starting to fill with students newly released from school.

They browsed through the shelves until Shinko came upon the book she seemed to be searching for and pulled it out of its place.

Kaito glanced at the title curiously. "Flight of the Stolen Sun by Kudo Yuusaku," he read aloud. "Your father's book?"

Shinko nodded. "I don't reserve his books because I have to give my name and there's usually a fuss when they see my family name and the author's. I'd also rather not lie about my own name as though I have something to hide so I just wait until they're on the shelves otherwise I'd get them as soon as they're released."

"So you're a follower of your dad's books huh?"

"Yeah," Shinko affirmed as she scrolled through the other bookshelf for another book. "His works are a true genius in a similar sense as your father's magic shows. They've been praised as the modern day Sherlock Holmes and some even go so far as to say they're better. I think they're about the same in terms of brilliance but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work holds a special place in me."

"Oh I see. I haven't personally read any Sherlock Holmes or a lot of mystery books but Aoko's boyfriend Hakuba could go hours on end about Holmes. In fact, he's so obsessed that I sometimes see him wearing Holmes's deerstalker, coat, and everything, the complete outfit." He grinned mischievously. "I always love to mess with it whenever I catch him wearing it. It always makes him so mad. Totally worth Aoko's wrath to see that look on his face!" he snickered.

They walked to the counter and paid for the books.

Shinko rolled her eyes. "I can't imagine how they can deal with you on a daily basis and not lose their minds."

Kaito simply grinned. "Hey in my defense, they're both crazy in their own rights. As for my classmates, they've learned to expect the unexpected. Never a dull day!" An impish gleam appeared in his eyes. "Say Shin-chan. How about I become acquainted with your class one last time?"

"No," she refused without missing a beat.

The magician pouted and Shinko felt a small smile form on her lips.

It felt good to be with Kaito again. Just simply being in his presence made her feel light and high in spirits. She really missed this.

Her smile started to slip.

But then afterwards, he'll be gone and she'll be back at the beginning once again. Was it really okay to be enjoying herself like this? She didn't want to get used to it. If she did, then she'd never be as content with her life as she was before besides, Kaito was a temporary fix to her problems. He helped her forget for a few precious hours but spending time with him certainly didn't resolve her issue which, she was ashamed to admit, still festered.

The next thing Shinko knew, she felt a slight breeze under her skirt. Her eyes widened in surprise at his utter audacity.

"Aw you wear shorts under your skirt? Bo—ring! Yikes!" He ducked a roundhouse kick Shinko had aimed at his head in the nick of time, her foot grazing the tips of his hair as she swept past. Boy she was fast.

"Don't do that again or I guarantee you I will hit next time," Shinko promised blandly. "And the reason why I wear shorts under my skirt is because you never know when a criminal might decide to run after solving a murder on my way to or from school." She sighed. "A dress or skirt is so inconvenient when that happens especially if you need to defend yourself."

"I thought you only kicked stuff," Kaito cried.

"I do but kick a hundred different things at people's heads a hundred different times and you're bound to pick up a few things. Ren helped me refine my moves of course so I advise that you don't do that again."

"Aw but you were thinking too much again so I just had to!"

"Idiot. You could have gotten my attention a different way."

"But this way is more fun."

"You have a strange definition of fun."

Kaito huffed. "Well fine then. Do everything the boring old fashioned way." He peered at Shinko playfully but she could detect some concern in his violet eyes. "What were you thinking about anyway to make you look so sad?"

"Sad?" Shinko felt a bit taken aback at the question. She was pretty certain she didn't look sad and she certainly didn't feel so.

"You were frowning just now didn't you notice? In fact, whenever you're upset, you always have a slight dejected look like you had just now."

"…There's nothing wrong."

But Kaito only arched his eyebrow in an expression of skepticism. "I see. I'm just a bit concerned is all. It's just that every time I see you, you always look so troubled at one point or another. You don't have to talk about it. I know Shin-chan is a very independent person and you take pride in that. It's one of the things that make you so admirable."

Shinko felt her heart jump in a small burst of flattered joy and she hastened to hide her reaction. Many people had complimented her on her uncanny skills but never herself as a person. It felt refreshing but at the same time, she didn't know how to respond so she simply settled on a mumbled, "Thank you."

The compliment had come out of almost nowhere but she wouldn't be surprised if it just came into Kaito's mind following his line of thoughts and said it out loud. He was such an expressive person and she wondered how he did it. It seemed effortless and in theory it was. In practice however, Shinko found it hard to voice her thoughts or feelings. Sometimes it was because of something as ridiculous as forgetting to since she was used to bottling them up and other times, she would rather keep them private. Maybe a small part of her was also afraid of what other people might think of her. Lately, that doesn't seem too off the bat anymore. Her confidence was wavering. She knew that but she also knew that given time, it'll build up again but when was hard to say.

Kaito on the other hand was an eccentric person who's unafraid to flaunt his differences and even managed to craft it into something wonderful, undaunted by what people might think about him. It's a difficult feat to ignore the will to fit in with everyone else and Shinko found that it was something to commend.

"Say Shin-chan."

Shinko turned her attention to her companion who was scratching his nose a bit sheepishly. A little curious at the gesture, she answered, "Yes?"

"Would you be angry if I told you this was a date?"

The word date seemed to trigger something in Shinko because the moment the question left Kaito's mouth, she could only freeze and stare wide-eyed at him, her mind suddenly blank.

"Ahahaha. I suppose it was kind of a bad idea to bring it up now but well… Would you?"

Her mind, not completely able to catch up with the sudden situation, managed to stumble out a few stutters in a bid to at least reply.

"Um… I uh…"

Kaito looked at her amusedly. "Slow down Shin-chan. Breathe."

Shinko did as instructed, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a puff of air. Once she was able to pull herself together again, she realized that they had stopped by the side of the road to allow other passersby through while she recovered from the unexpected question.

At the recollection of the reason why they had stopped in the first place, Shinko felt her face heat up to an unnatural level but despite this, she was calm enough to stop herself from embarrassing herself further by freezing up again in the middle of the street.

Ignoring how hot her head felt or how her thoughts were still a bit scattered, she managed to utter a question of her own. "W-why are you asking this?"

Kaito blinked in what seemed to be genuine confusion. "Huh? Well isn't it obvious? I want to go on a date with you! Now's as good a time as any. Actually I wanted to ask at the school gates but I got a bit sidetracked."

Shinko slowly nodded, eyes glued to the ground. Something about the way he said it told her that wasn't the whole story. She would have to study his expression to be able to truly tell but right now, she can't bring herself to look at his face. She'll accept it for now anyway. Kaito's intentions can't be bad.

"F-f-fine," she mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard over the din of the city but Kaito seemed to have caught it anyway because he positively beamed.

"Great!" Kaito cheered enthusiastically. "Then do you feel hungry?"

"Not particularly…"

"Okay then. I guess we can skip until dinner then unless you start feeling hungry. Then, is there any place you would like to go?"

"Um… I… can't think of anywhere." Shinko flushed feeling embarrassed at herself. She sounded as though she doesn't know what she wanted.

Kaito laughed and nodded. "I guess you don't know where to go either. Hmm…" He scratched his chin thoughtfully before perking up as an idea hit him. "Well if the lovely lady doesn't mind, how about we go to the new museum that opened up nearby? It's not as big as the Beika Museum but it'll be fun!" he proposed brightly.

"Okay."

Shinko felt her nerves tangle together as they started walking to the museum but Kaito's jovial chattering eased her somewhat. He was acting pretty much the same as his usual self and it reassured her to know that even though this was a date, like he said it was, it wasn't really that different from a regular outing. In fact, if she ignored the date part, it was just simply spending time with a friend so there wasn't really anything to be so nervous about.

The museum was soon in sight and after letting Kaito admire the exterior for a few seconds, they proceeded up the stairs where the magician paid for both their admission fees much to Shinko's protest.

The first thing he asked when they walked inside was, "What would you like to see first?"

"Inventions. It's what you would want to see right?" She started heading off to the right with the magician in tow.

He looked at her amusedly. "Maybe but I asked you what _you_ wanted to see first."

"I hardly think it matters much since I can come here anytime I want but you have to take a long train ride here." Shinko gave him a look. "By the way, I don't approve of you skipping school early just to come greet me," she informed.

Kaito pouted. "But I missed you," he whined.

"You could have visited during a weekend or called me to meet up somewhere."

"But I wanted to surprise you!"

"Well then surprise me during the weekend."

They turned a corner and finally came upon the inventions section of the building.

"But you said you were usually busy during the weekends!" Kaito continued persistently.

"I usually am. Are we going to keep talking about this or are we going to actually look around?" Shinko asked letting out a puff of air in a show of good-natured exasperation.

Kaito lit up as though Christmas came early. "Yep!"

"Then hurry up."

They proceeded forth through the museum with Kaito, much to Shinko's amusement, running around like a little kid, dragging her along and pointing out some of the displays he found interesting before rattling off random information about them. Sometimes a particular item prompted the both of them to launch into a heated conversation and sometimes the magician would do random acts of magic like an artist inspired.

Shinko didn't particularly mind because it made their tour a lot more fun than it would have been if she had come alone. Kaito's presence very often, if not always, tended to make things fun.

After visiting a majority of the exhibits a few hours later, they finally came upon the marine section of the museum.

"Ah… Are we going in there?" Kaito asked, pausing in his steps in front of the archway beyond which lay one of their last places to explore, prompting Shinko to stop with him. He shifted slightly and scratched his head as his eyes skimmed over the displays beyond.

Shinko shot him a curious look at the nervous gesture. "Yes. Why? You don't want to go take a look?"

The magician shook his head and smiled although the detective noted it was a bit on the side of shaky. "No, let's go."

She eyed him for a moment, not believing for a second he was all right but found she had no choice but to enter anyway when Kaito started to cheerfully push her in. "Okay then…"

Without further interruption, they proceeded to the various beautiful displays of fossils, bones, and models of aquatic life and their interesting facts and started their tour.

While still immersed in learning about the many fascinating subjects, Shinko made sure to keep a sharp eye on Kaito. The odd behavior before they entered told her something was wrong even though he had denied it and she wanted to find out what.

Kaito had put his hands in his pockets a little after they went in and although he was the very picture of casual, she could still tell that he was unnerved. It was concealed very well and it would have fooled most people but she caught the slight paleness in his features and the way his eyes wouldn't stay on the marine animals but lingered on the plants. It looked as though the magician was actually afraid of fish. If that was so, why did he agree to go in and play it off as nothing if he had ichthyophobia? It couldn't be because he was afraid he'd get laughed at because Kaito wouldn't care. In fact, he would have played along.

Shinko frowned.

On any other occasion, this discovery would have been amusing if not funny but as it is, she can't find it humorous at all when Kaito was trying so hard to be considerate to her wants by putting aside his own fear.

She sighed and gently took his hand and started to lead him away. "Don't look," she commanded sternly but not unkindly.

"Huh? Aren't we going to finish looking around?"

"I can always come back," she said firmly.

Kaito didn't say anything but the slight squeeze to her hand showed his thanks.

By the time they were done touring through the rest of the museum, the sun was already starting to set.

"Well," he chirped, checking his watch, "no time like now to get dinner. What say you?"

"Yeah I think it's a good time."

"Hmm. Well then, how about a picnic?" Kaito proposed gleefully.

Shinko shot him a strange look. "It's sunset," she reminded him blankly.

The magician simply shrugged. "So? There's still plenty of time before dark if you're worried and it'd be a nice change of scenery."

Seeing that there isn't really a good reason to say no, the detective consented. "Where do you have in mind?"

"Weeeell," Kaito hummed. "We're near the Teimuzu River right? How about we set up there?"

"Alright but where is the food—"

Kaito let out a tut. "Details."

"Right of course. Silly me I forgot who I was talking to," Shinko amended, rolling her eyes.

"As long as you know."

They set off in companionable silence towards the bank of the river simply enjoying the evening before the coming night.

Above them, the sky was a peaceful canvas of orange and marigold beautifully painted by the sleepy sun slowly sinking into the horizon. A warm breeze blew their hair back, a pleasant grassy fragrance wafting along gently on the wind.

When they arrived, they carefully made their way down the slope and sat down on the large white blanket Kaito conjured near the burbling tangerine-dyed river sparkling with the scattered glitter of light.

The magician proceeded to make a show out of checking his sleeves, pockets, and pant legs before a dove flew out of his shirt collar and dropped what looked like a picnic basket the size of a wedding ring box on the blanket before vanishing in a puff of smoke. The moment the miniature hit the fabric, it started to grow until it was the size of an ordinary basket.

Kaito whistled as he opened the basket and dug through it, handing out plates, cups, eating utensils, and napkins before taking out the containers of food and a few small bottles of juice and water.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you probably planned this out," Shinko mused out loud as her companion offered her some salad.

"I'd be offended if you were surprised," Kaito said happily. "Here try this."

He heaped a portion of yakitori onto her plate and watched eagerly as Shinko took a bite.

"It tastes really good," she complimented after swallowing.

Kaito grinned proudly at the praise. "Yup! My mom was the one who made the food so it's guaranteed to be delicious. I helped out too!"

That would explain the sausages cut into the shape of octopi, the flower-shaped carrots, and the rabbit-shaped dumplings as well as a few other elaborately carved foods decorating some of the dishes. It was kind of cute.

"Is that so? I'll remember to thank her someday then."

"You're more than welcome to visit," Kaito chipped in cheerily.

Shinko hummed, contemplating it. "Maybe next time when I visit you in Ekoda. It's only fair after the number of times you came here to meet me. I'd also love to see Aoko again."

Kaito cheered and happily dug into his food and Shinko followed suit.

When the last bit of food was finished, Kaito cleared everything with a snap of his fingers and they walked halfway up the sloped banks and sat there in silence, admiring the dusk sky.

"Say Kaito. Why did you decide to ask me out all of a sudden?" Shinko asked softly after several minutes of quiet, breaking the tranquil calm.

"Hmm? Why do you ask? You didn't enjoy it?"

Shinko picked up a green leaf from the ground and twirled it absently between her fingers before letting it blow away with the wind, watching it dance in front of her.

"No, you've been nothing but a perfect gentleman and I feel happy… A lot happier than I've ever felt for a while but you hadn't really planned to ask me out at the gates did you? This was just a spur of the moment."

She felt her heart sink somewhat at her own words. Sometimes the truth she so loved hurts.

"Hey no," Kaito objected gently, putting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly and prompting her to turn her attention towards him. "Don't say that. Even if I'm a bit random sometimes, I don't ask people out just because I felt like it at the time. I don't play with people's feelings. When I asked you out, I was serious. I wanted to show just how wonderful Shin-chan is."

"I see… You _would_ notice wouldn't you?" Shinko mused out loud, uncertain how she felt about being read but she felt at least somewhat glad Kaito took notice.

"Since day one. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's perfectly natural in fact. Sometimes even the most confident need to be reminded how great they are."

Shinko smiled, feeling touched. She knew she was a simple person who could do things other people couldn't and that she should take pride in who she was but over time, she had started to doubt that her own self was actually any good. Now, to have someone encouraging her so understandingly, it allowed her to find her at least a bit of her old confidence. It certainly made a world of difference when someone else was speaking those words rather than speaking her own words of self-assurance to herself.

"Thank you Kaito."

The magician grinned and laid back on the grass. "There's no need to thank me. A date with you is thanks enough." He winked. "It's really no wonder why people avoid you." Sincere tangerine tinged amethyst eyes danced merrily in the evening light, complimenting his honest smile. "It's because you're amazing."

Shinko blushed and returned her gaze to the sky hoping the reddish tinge would be hidden by the goldenrod sun. "Oh."

"Shin-chan is more amazing than she thinks. You're thoughtful, independent, accepting, intelligent, which is a given, have a high moral and strong sense of justice but understands that the law is imperfect and that there are exceptions sometimes. Need I go on?" Kaito grinned when the detective shook her head. "That's the reason why people avoid you. They think you're out of their league. They're afraid of what you think of them because your opinion matters so they avoid you thinking it's better safe than sorry if you happen to think of them in a negative way. It doesn't help that you're rather famous so you're also easily recognizable. Personally, I think it's their loss."

"Really?"

An overwhelming sense of relief washed over her like the ocean upon the sands of a beach. So it really wasn't just her? It wasn't because she was weird or anything?

"Of course! You just need to see it for yourself with a little bit of a push."

Shinko let out a small, breathless chuckle. "I… really appreciate the way you've tried to understand and help me. I'm glad I met you," she confessed, letting all the sincerity she felt seep into the words.

The magician brightened. "Always happy to assist!"

There was a brief pause.

"Oh Shin-chan~" Kaito sang.

Warning bells immediately went off in her head at the sing-song tone, shattering her calm. It was with great reluctance that Shinko turned her head to address the magician but stopped when she felt a pair of lips on her cheek and a playful "chu!"

Face instantly bursting with heat she attempted to swat him away but the magician only laughed and hugged her.

"Shin-chan is so cute!"

Speechless, Shinko simply sat there for a few moments, heart accelerating wildly before hesitantly, with cheeks burning a brilliant scarlet that would have matched the sun, wrapping her own arms around Kaito.

"I-idiot," she mumbled.

"Shin-chan is a very special person to me. Am I special to Shin-chan too?"

Shinko swallowed and nodded, feeling stiff. "Y-yes… you're… someone… irreplaceable," she muttered, embarrassed, wishing she could sink right into the ground.

It was difficult to get it out into the open but it was true. Kaito had become an irreplaceable part of her life just like that and she doubted anyone could substitute, not even Ren. If she were to think of the reason why, she could give a hundred different reasons but it all came down to one reason that summed up every other reason there could possibly be: It was simply because it was Kaito.

"Then," the magician began, finally pulling away and making eye-contact, "will you go out with me from now on? I mean, we haven't known each other for long but I really like Shin-chan and I don't want this to be a one-time thing."

His eyes were determined and he looked serious, not that Shinko would have thought that Kaito would make a joke about something like this even if he acted otherwise, but at the same time he looked…

"Is this your first time asking someone out Kaito?"

To her surprise, Kaito blushed. She stared as he averted his eyes and looked away in an attempt to hide his own embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned awkwardly.

So even Kaito would get nervous when he asks someone out.

Shinko smiled and suppressed her laughter at the endearing sight.

"That's okay because this is my first time too."

The magician turned his attention back to Shinko, eyes wide like an eager child.

"Then—"

"Yes I will."

Kaito's face immediately broke out into an ecstatic beam and Shinko barely had time to prepare herself when he threw his arms around her again, cheering.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

"Idiot! That doesn't mean you can hug me to death!" she cried, struggling to free herself from his grasp.

She blinked at the cherry-red rose that had suddenly appeared in front of her nose.

"A commemoration of our first date," Kaito proclaimed. "A rose for Shinko."

Shinko's smile grew a bit wider and she reached to take it, looking thoughtfully at the beautiful bloom.

"A flower for the lady."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Sorry that this chapter is so much shorter than the others. I really couldn't crunch in anything more here but stayed tuned because I'm putting an extras up!

I can't believe I wrote something so mushy because I usually can't stand reading mushy things so proofreading it was… an interesting experience especially since I was the one who wrote it XD I only prayed that it didn't go to fast. I tried to make it as smooth as possible.

Edit: Sorry guys I haven't been very clear and that's my own big fault. There isn't going to be a continuation. The next chapter is going to be some extras I concocted while writing this story but I am already writing up a new KaiShin story so look forward to it ;) Again, apologies for the misunderstanding.


	4. Leaves of Our Lives: Extras

I hope you'll enjoy these little mini stories! Thank you for reading A Flower for the Lady and for all the kind reviews!

Thanks to **March Rosenqueen** for the last extra's idea!

* * *

><p>Leaves of Our Lives: Extras<p>

Plum Blossom:

Kaito and Aoko sat in the sidelines as they watched Shinko and Hakuba continue to talk animatedly about Sherlock Holmes and cases. For the past half hour. That makes it three hours if the two hours and a half Kaito and Aoko spent doing something else were counted.

Kaito glared at the half-Brit detective who had completely and totally enraptured Shinko with his stupid little fixation and his stupid little debates, talking with that stupid little smile and that stupid little light in his eyes.

"Aoko, tell your boyfriend to keep away from my girlfriend. That counts as cheating. Go beat him up," Kaito whined, glaring holes at the half-British detective.

Aoko swatted at her friend. "They're just talking about something they both love after finding someone else who shares the same interest! They can't help it if they lose track of time."

"But all she's doing on _our_ date is talk to Hakuba so _he_ might as well be on a date with Shin-chan!"

The girl beside him sighed irritably. "Stop being so overdramatic. Look, if you're so adamant, we'll give them another half an hour to talk then we'll drag them off okay?"

Kaito pouted like a petulant child who couldn't get the slice of cake he wanted.

But he didn't wanna waaaaait. When he wanted something, he wanted it _now_.

He sat there, dredging up ideas for the perfect vengeance. He waited a few more minutes before getting up.

"Where are you going?" Aoko asked suspiciously, pausing from feeding the birds (and doves).

"I'm not going to do anything," Kaito replied sulkily. "I don't wanna wait around for thirty minutes. I'm just going to climb a tree or something."

Aoko was still eyeing him doubtfully and for good reason too. The magician was known to wreak havoc even if said he wouldn't and she was wary for her boyfriend.

"Fine but the moment you pull any funny business and I'm kicking your ass, okay?"

Kaito agreed and scrambled up the nearest tree. Of course, he didn't plan to stay up there. It wasn't a great feat to climb back down and sneak away unnoticed, silent as a shadow.

He circled around, making sure to give a wide berth around Aoko to ensure she wouldn't spot him. Quietly, he slunk behind the bench where Hakuba was sitting, still talking to Shinko who he had become fast friends with, unaware of the fate that would soon befall him.

Even as he set to work, his eyes were alit with deviousness and his lips were curved into an absolutely devilish smile.

Fifteen minutes later, Hakuba felt a slight tug on his shoulder. He looked behind himself but no one was there. Shrugging it off, he continued his conversation with Shinko but not even a minute later, he felt another tug. He swatted at it irritably but there was nothing there.

"What's wrong Hakuba?"

"No nothing. I just keep feeling this tug on my shoulders."

Shinko had just started to lean over the bench to see if someone was playing a prank when a startled yelp sounded from Hakuba.

She quickly turned back towards her companion only to find… he wasn't there?

A cry from above directed her gaze upward where she found Hakuba being spirited away by large colorful balloons.

Startled, Shinko sprang out of her seat. "Hakuba!"

"He'll be fine. Those balloons'll pop one by one after about five minutes," a casual voice said beside her.

"Kaito you are such a child," Shinko informed him flatly.

"Aw but all you've been doing is talking to Hakuba!" Kaito complained. "He stole my date with you!"

"He didn't _steal_ our date. We were just talking."

"Yeah but you guys could do that some other time. Hakuba was hogging my Shin-chan time!"

Shinko sighed. "Kaito—"

"Kaitooooooooo! I'm going to kill yooooooou!"

Kaito squeaked as he ducked the stick aimed at his head just in time, swiveling around to face an angry Aoko.

"Haha… Um… Don't worry. Hakuba won't be traumatized this time… Maybe…"

"Maybe?" Aoko roared, preparing another swig at her infuriating friend. "Take him down _now_!"

"Well even if you ask me to do that…" the magician trailed off nervously.

"_What?_ So let me get this straight," Aoko said, suddenly calming down. She lowered her weapon. "You're saying you can somehow attach balloons onto Hakuba without anyone noticing until he started to float away but you can't get him down?"

The stick magically teleported head-first deep into the trunk of the tree beside Kaito's head.

"That's too bad."

And she wasn't just referring to the trickster's apparent lack of knowledge.

"I-I'll see what I can do," Kaito tittered and slowly backed away as one would back away from a ferocious predator.

As the magician fled into the woods of the park to get Hakuba back down, Aoko turned to Shinko, a bright smile on her face.

"Don't worry. This will only take a minute."

Shinko simply stared, wondering when exactly Kaito had jumped from the cliff of crazy to this level of insanity to continue torturing Aoko's boyfriend when the girlfriend was like _this_.

o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o-0-O-o

Maple Leaf:

Shinko peeked around the corner, her eyes focusing upon a man talking on his cell phone, narrowing him down and taking in every single detail like a hawk.

Good. Her target was in the premises. The only question now would be…

"Why are you here?" she asked in mild irritation at the girl standing behind her.

"I want to see you at work!" the girl gushed excitedly, her eagerness tangible.

Shinko cringed at the feminine tone that came so naturally from a _guy_.

"Kaito this isn't a game," she hissed under her breath, eyes following the man as he walked into a café. She tucked a few stray strands of long hair back underneath the confines of her tan Gatsby hat and adjusted her baggy sweater as she got ready to follow him in. Before she did, she turned towards her unwanted companion momentarily. "Go home. I mean it," she growled warningly before quickly sweeping away and following the man into the building.

The clack of high heels trailing her to the entrance of the café told Shinko he blatantly disregarded her order.

Gritting her teeth as her temper started to rise, she turned back around angrily. "Look Kaito, I know you might be curious about my job but now is _not_ the time to be playing around! This is serious. This man is a suspect and he might be dangerous! If something were to happen, I would be able to handle it but you're inexperienced with those situations and I can't guarantee your safety. Please just go home," she reasoned, partly frustrated and partly concerned.

Kaito pouted, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Is that how you treat your girlfriend?"

"Kaito," Shinko said slowly as though talking to a little child. "You and I both know that you're not my girlfriend or even a girl for that matter."

The magician managed to look genuinely shocked, at least to outsiders. "S-Shin-chan, how could you say something like that?" he sniffed.

People were staring at them and she caught snippets of conversation some of which included, "How mean!" and "She should just break up with that boy. I'd treat such a pretty girl hell of a lot better."

Shinko clenched her teeth and had half a mind to tell those people to mind their own damn business but knowing she would simply antagonize herself further if she did so, she dragged Kaito into the café with her and shoved him into a seat away from the scrutiny of the crowd outside. She spotted the man sitting at a table a distance away diagonal to hers and she quickly began to observe him in a discreet way.

"So what'll you be having dear?" Kaito asked sweetly.

Shinko glared at him. Damn magician could be tricky when he wanted to be.

"Your head if you don't leave now," she hissed, low enough so that the surrounding patrons couldn't hear her.

"Lemon tart it is!" Kaito chirped. "Excuse me miss! I would like hot milk tea and fudge cake and Shin-chan here will have black coffee and a lemon tart."

"Sure thing!" the waitress replied and went off to place their orders.

"You're having entirely too much fun from this," Shinko commented wearily.

"I'm here so I might as well enjoy it," he responded happily.

Another customer had come in; a rather average looking man who could easily be overlooked. He glanced around nervously before shuffling over to the suspect's table.

She casually swept her eyes slowly through the café like a normal patron would do when waiting for their order to come, making sure the two men were at the edge of her vision at all times.

"Be right back," Kaito chimed before going off to the restroom. She would have been suspicious if not for the fact he returned after five minutes.

"Here are your orders!"

A delicious plate of lemon tart and a cup of coffee were placed in front of her. She took a fork and ate a small piece of her pie before grabbing the coffee and taking a slow sip, glancing over the rim at the target.

A very familiar flash of metal had her instantly on her feet but the suspect already had the gun trained on the other man's head.

The suspect looked absolutely livid, his eyes wild with craze.

There was a scream and a commotion.

"Everyone shut up and don't move!" he roared.

"Shit…"

Shinko glanced around for something to disarm the dangerous man but to her horror, before she could do anything, the trigger was pulled and a loud crack sounded through the room.

Silence.

A comical red flag with a large BANG written on it hung out of the barrel of the gun.

Shinko immediately took advantage of the moment of stunned surprise to kick a bucket she found hidden under a window.

The bucket connected with the man's head, the blow forcing him to drop his gun but he was far from out.

His enraged eyes turned their attention towards the detective and within seconds, he was charging at her with a yell, a switchblade in his hands.

A piece of clothing suddenly intercepted his vision and he paused a few seconds in startled confusion before he grabbed the fabric and tossed it aside, readying to charge again except he couldn't move his feet and his hands were tied to the heavy tables.

He turned wildly around for the reason why only to find that they had been bound tightly with cloth.

Looking back up, he was shocked to see a grinning teenage boy wearing a green sweatshirt and jeans juggling his gun and knife.

"I'm sorry. Were you looking for these?" he asked pleasantly. "You shouldn't play with such dangerous toys."

"Kaito," a voice rebuked sternly.

Kaito shrugged and with a poof, the weapons were gone.

The man turned towards the direction of the voice and found the boy, or girl now that her hat had fallen off to reveal long hair, he had been charging was a fair distance across the room with several police officers behind her.

As the police started reciting the criminal's rights and escorting him out, Shinko picked up the discarded dress and hat and glared sourly at Kaito, clearly telling him she was vastly unamused.

"You could have been hurt," Shinko stated plainly.

"But… when I saw him charging at you I just reacted," Kaito said, shrugging. "I know Shin-chan knows what she's doing because she's been doing this for a very long time but that's exactly why it scares me because one day…"

Shinko's expression softened.

"Idiot. As if I would allow myself to be taken down that easily. Even against the toughest and most cunning criminal, I always have a plan that ensures their capture and my own safety and do you know why?"

Kaito shook his head.

"Because I have you to return to."

o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o-0-O-o

Fir Needle:

When Shinko had walked inside the Kuroba household, she had expected Kaito's kind and loving mother, his mischievous and playful father, and even random bits of magic popping around the house. What she did _not_ expect was…

"Oh Shin-chaaaaan! Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?" Kudo Yukiko squealed.

Catching sight of her mother sitting on the sofa waving merrily and her father on the armchair diagonal from Yukiko, Shinko froze.

"M-mom? Dad?" she choked, blanching and gaping. She wished fervently that this was some sort of hallucination. "W-what are you two doing here?"

Her mother giggled. "Well didn't you know dear? Kuroba Toichi was the one who taught me the art of disguise! We decided to drop by since you weren't home and I was so surprised when I heard that Kai-chan was dating someone! Dating Shin-chan no less!"

Shinko sputtered and stared at her mother, horrified. If that woman was here and knew she was in a relationship, she'd never hear the end of it. If that woman was here and knew she was in a relationship, it meant hours of endless clothes, especially dresses, forced on her like she was some giant dress-up doll. If that woman was here and knew about her relationship, she'd never be sane again.

"Truthfully, I always thought you'd end up with Ren-kun but Kai-chan's also an excellent choice! Please take care of my daughter okay Kai-chan?"

Kaito, who had gotten over the shock of seeing Shinko's parents so suddenly or at least hidden it well, gave a charming smile. "Of course Kudo-san!"

"Oh don't be so formal! Just call me mom from now on!"

"Mom!" Shinko cried, horrifyingly embarrassed. Her face had exploded into a bright cherry red and it hasn't even been three minutes since she stepped foot into the house. She hadn't even taken off her shoes yet!

"Oh fine. You can call me Yukiko instead," the actress corrected. "Well don't just stand there. Come in and sit down! We have so much catching up to do!"

So it was with great reluctance that Shinko took off her shoes and entered the room with the airs of someone who would rather jump down a crocodile pit. She knew it was rude and childish to sulk but this was _her mother_. There were always exceptions when it came to her.

Two minutes later, the two teens were sitting on the couch facing the armchair with two cups of steaming tea in front of them.

She didn't think Kaito knew the full extent of devastation Yukiko can wrought onto them but she suspected that he knew at least a taste. Soon he'll get the full course.

Yukiko had since turned her attention to the woman sitting beside her on the sofa. "He's grown up so much Chikage! He's become such a handsome young man! Remember when he was just a little toddler? Oh how much trouble he gets into." Yukiko giggled at the memory.

Chikage smiled. "Oh yes. Such as the time he got himself glued to the ceiling."

Kaito choked. "Hey I was only four!"

"Or when he tried to get over his ichthyophobia by himself," Toichi quipped from his spot beside Chikage, eyes twinkling madly.

The fledgling magician shot a betrayed look at his dad.

"If I'm not mistaken, he wouldn't stop clinging to us for days and wet—"

"Dad!" Kaito howled, eyes wide and face as red as Shinko's.

Toichi sent his son an innocent smile that silently conveyed all the humiliation he was going to inflict on him with his girlfriend around.

Chikage grinned. "Remember dear? He convinced us to put a tank…"

Kaito could only sit there, mortified as his parents continued on, frozen stiff with horror, and watch as every embarrassing episode in his life was relayed.

Shinko had long since buried her face in her hands in an attempt to convince herself this was a dream. Reality and truth could take a backseat for a while.

"Did you know that Shin-chan once threw a tantrum for a week because Yuusaku was able to give her a puzzle she couldn't solve?" trilled Yukiko.

Yuusaku, the silent presence in the room full of energetic adult-kids quietly said, with a quirk of his lips, "It was Rubik's cube."

With those four words, it was like a bomb just detonated in the living room for Shinko.

Her dad was _dangerous_.

Fifteen minutes of humiliating stories and questions later, the thoroughly embarrassed teens wished they could bury themselves alive and become dead to the world.

When the snacks and tea were gone, Kaito had all but leaped up in joy and eagerly offered to refill them with the help of Shinko, who whole-heartedly agreed.

Relieved at their reprieve, they both collapsed into the kitchen chairs and breathed a sigh.

"I am _not_ going back in there again," Shinko muttered, face still burning.

Kaito, who was in a similar state, replied, "Then it's probably a good thing they _let_ us escape. We can get out through the window."

"My mom's absolutely crazy and my dad's willingly for the ride and that makes him just as crazy. That was why I didn't want you to call me Shin-chan," she groaned, grimacing. "My mom calls me that."

"Oh I see. Do you want me to stop?"

"No, it's fine with you but my mom…"

"We sure picked a terrible day to visit. On a normal day, my parents would be less…" This time Kaito grimaced. "You want to get out now?"

"Yes _please_."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **In case you didn't catch the reference when Yukiko insisted Kaito call her mom, she meant it as in how one would call your spouse's mother, mom too XD

Until next time!


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